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| Edited By: |Source: DNA |Updated: Dec 16, 2010, 11:45 PM IST
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been decisively defeated and its top cadres, including it chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, were killed in the military operations in 2009. But it should not be taken to mean that the danger posed by the extremist group is at end.
The resurgence of the Taliban after its defeat in 2001 should serve as a grim reminder that it is not enough to score a military
victory over terror groups.
Indian intelligence reports indicate that the rump of the group is regrouping in south India. There is apparently an attempt to recruit fresh volunteers from the Lankan Tamil refugee groups in Tamil Nadu.
The more disconcerting news is that the terrorist group, which is banned in India since the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, is targeting prime minister Manmohan Singh, Union home minister P Chidambaram and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi.
It would be fatal to dismiss the possibility of such attacks or ignore the warning. The LTTE remains a determined foe of India’s political class, which has, despite internal differences, stood for the unity of Sri Lanka, something that the group with its demand for a separate Tamil homeland resents.
It is necessary to keep an eye on the Tamil terror groups — the LTTE was one of the successful among many — in India and in Sri Lanka and also in other parts of the world.
India will have to urge the Sri Lankan political establishment not to be complacent with their victory. Colombo will not just have to maintain a constant vigil against the activities of disaffected Tamil groups. It will also have to take sufficient ameliorative measures to win the confidence of the Tamil people in Jaffna.
Despite eloquent assurances of reconciliation and equal rights, Rajapaksa and the political class seem to be falling back into the majoritarian mode. An example is the scrapping of the Tamil version of the Lankan national anthem on the pretext that there could be only a single national anthem.
These short-sighted acts are avoidable. Winning the hearts of the Tamils is more crucial for the unity of Sri Lanka than asserting the majority Sinhalas’ view.
