The Security Forces have a traditional New Year gift for the people of this land - the complete liquidation of the conventional military capabilities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the regaining of Sri Lanka's territorial integrity for the first time since the separatist insurgency began back in 1972.

So, is the war over? Probably not. Until last night, the elusive LTTE supreme leader remained at large. Our political editor says he is holed up in the 'Safety Zone' - the little strip of land between the Puthukkudiyiruppu lagoon and the nearby coastline. Some of the LTTE cadres are believed to have slipped out to wage a guerrilla campaign elsewhere in the country.
The Government and the military will not rest until they capture the LTTE leader - dead or alive. Neither will they rest until the residue of the separatist insurgency is fully neutralized. Both of these could take months, but for the moment, the fact of the matter is that the LTTE has no claim to any part of this island-nation, and therefore, has been dealt a shattering psychological blow to its promised land of Eelam.

The fighting has indeed reached the final, poignant moment. Notwithstanding its inevitable launch of a guerrilla campaign, it is the LTTE's last hurrah. Similar to the 'Hitler Youth' being commissioned for the defence of what was left of the Third Reich, and young teenagers asked to ram their aircraft into US bomber sorties over crumbling Germany during World War II, the remnants of the LTTE's fighting cadres are being sent out to slaughter as the Security Forces advance in the Pudukkudiyiruppu area.

The damage to life and limb is very high. Civilian casualties are high, and so are those of the Security Forces. What is the LTTE High Command holding on for? To prove that they resisted for a week longer before they eventually succumb? Or is it in the hope of some breathing space through the diasporas' outcry in world capitals - or is it for the monsoon rains?

Naturally, they must be concerned for their own lives. Earlier this week, the military said that several LTTE senior combatants were killed in action.

Around the capitals of the western world, where many Sri Lankans went to after the 1983 pogrom, there have been protests demanding their 'home' governments exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to cease fire.

In Britain, especially, they have thronged Parliament Square, or were herded there by the local police. Some children who have probably not been to the North or East of Sri Lanka are distributing anti-Sri Lanka leaflets at the behest of their elders - very much like the LTTE organization itself which led, or more appropriately misled, hordes of young people to their early deaths. The police watch as the flag of the banned LTTE is waved in their face with no arrests made. This is their contribution to the war on terror.

While these demonstrations take place in the western world's capitals, there is a deafening silence from their brethren in Sri Lanka. It is partly true that any form of dissent will be crushed with an iron fist here. But it is also partly true that the Sri Lankans living in the North and the East in particular, have had enough of this three decade-long insurgency, and want to get on with a normal life for themselves and their children.

There must be some natural affinity and sympathy for the LTTE among sections of the minority, and a sense of appreciation to them for giving them a form of recognition that they felt they were denied - and a form of security post-1983. But then, how many of their own community have been eliminated by the LTTE? A maverick Tamil Nadu politician known for his affinity to the LTTE leadership has made an impassioned speech this week about the minority Tamils being killed in the fighting in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Government had to make its apologies when its Army top brass called Tamil Nadu politicians "fools", but doesn't this politician know how many Tamils were decimated by the LTTE - the entire EPRLF leadership, the TELO leadership, the EPDP leadership, the TULF leadership, the mainstream Tamil political leaders - why? Did they have any different blood?

Fortunately, the Indian establishment sees things differently now. There was widespread condemnation for this politician's histrionics this week.

There is now an obvious need for healing the wounds; not just the war wounds, but the deep rooted hurt that must have been caused to a section of the people. The good thing is that this is not irreversible. Older generations still recall with nostalgia the harmony that prevailed in years past and even today, there is no hatred among the vast majority of the people as the story of New Year celebrations at the Colombo University in our Plus section indicates. And as Sinhalese and Tamils alike light the hearth and boil the pot of milk to usher in the New Year, let it be in the spirit of renewal and strong resolve to shed all bitterness and seize the opportunity to take our beloved nation forward for the sake of all her children.