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Eelam abandoned or postponed?
Last Thursday the British newspaper The Guardian led its international news pages with the headline "Tamil Tigers drop independence claim".

In fact The Guardian states that the LTTE's position emerging during the first round of talks in Thailand had sent Colombo's stock market to a five year high while some NGOs had reacted with a welcome surprise.

But sceptics who see in the current peace talks another ruse by the LTTE to gain time to rebuild and rearm itself and those who consider it as an ignominious capitulation by a Sinhala government, paving the way for an eventual Tamil Eelam, would seize on other remarks attributed to the LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham, as proof of their fears.

The Guardian story by John Aglionby began thus: "The Tamil Tiger separatists have abandoned their quest for full independence from Sri Lanka, announcing at the end of three days of preliminary peace talks in Thailand yesterday that they are negotiating for autonomy".

The story went on to quote Balasingham: "We demand the recognition of our homeland. "When we say homeland it doesn't mean separate state."

That was the critical part of Balasingham's words that has been interpreted- by some at least- as a clear signal that the LTTE has abandoned its long time demand for Tamil Eelam and is willing to settle for something short of it.

However Balasingham had gone on to say, according to The Guardian report, that independence could not be ruled out entirely.

"We (always) have the right to fight for independence and statehood," he said. "I hope that situation would not arise".

Those on the Sinhala side of the barricades who want a military solution to the conflict or negotiations based on preconditions that the LTTE must observe before any talks begin, would argue that Balasingham's qualifying words are indicative not of an abandonment of Eelam but a mere postponement.

But the truth surely is that the current round of peace negotiations is occurring under objective conditions that are different from those that existed previously. Those objective conditions have placed hitherto non-existent burdens on the LTTE not only to enter into negotiations seriously but also to end the conflict.

If the banning of the LTTE as a terrorist organisation or legal curbs on its fund raising activities by some western countries where the Tamil community is widely established, has put pressure on the Tigers, the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US put together an international coalition determined to fight global terrorism.

While these international developments made it difficult for the LTTE to operate abroad with the same openness and bravado that has characterised its activities particularly in the western world, changes in the Sri Lankan political scene helped immensely.

When Ranil Wickremesinghe became Prime Minister it had two effects. Firstly, it suited the LTTE which was looking for a way to reduce growing international pressure on it as a banned terrorist organisation and therefore suspect in the eyes of the international community.

The LTTE's attempts to seek some kind of accommodation under President Chandrika Kumaratunga's dispensation had been spurned after some months.

So it would not be fair, and indeed incorrect to judge the LTTE in the earlier historical context of shattered negotiations and renewed wars, for the objective conditions both international and domestic had altered perceptibly.

Besides the Sinhala constituency that believes that we are heading for a sell out of Sinhala rights and majority privileges, there are also those who would want the war to continue.

Those are the people who have profited by 20 years or more of war and conflict. Among them are the merchants of death- the arms salesmen and agents who live luxuriously on the death and suffering of others; politicians, bureaucrats and servicemen who have collected their commissions or whatever filthy lucre they could lay their hands on.

Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando might think that warmongers are only among Sinhala expatriates. He might be surprised that opponents of peace are to be found among the Tamil community too. There are many Tamils who have found war a lucrative business. Human smuggling, acting as couriers for the narcotics trade, credit card thefts and forgeries and coercing their own community into providing money are among the activities that have brought them untold riches.

It is such people who are questioning the LTTE leadership over its readiness to give up Eelam because they expected to profit further from the creation of a separate state.

This is why Anton Balasingham could not say outright that the Tigers have forsaken Eelam.

Balasingham need not have taken up this issue at the outset of the talks. The fact that he did so was to indicate both to the government and the international community that is pressurising the Tigers, that peace is indeed on its agenda.

So, as Ranil Wickremesinghe was to stress at the United Nations last week, confidence building measures are vital now to create that relationship between people, to renew faith and heal old wounds.

The movement of people in every direction is a healthy development. But if the people are to benefit and have faith in their right to freedom of movement then the current barriers-physical and fiscal- are unnecessary and should be lifted as quickly as possible.

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