MADRAS: For many years now Coimbatore the industrial hub of the State has been providing arms for the LTTE militants. Tiruchi has soothed and cured many a wounded Tiger and at the same time been a source for detonators Erode has turned out the battle fatigues for the committed bank of zealots fighting for an independent Eelam. Thanjavur a major pilgrimage center is because of its proximity to the coast a major communication center
Madras is a beehive of militant activity while Madurai the second largest city in Tamil Nadu enjoys an almost equal status. The rest of the State has also been hospitable in many ways because Tamils here have always been sympathetic to their cousins across the Palk Strait whom they admire as a valiant band of warriors.
In many cases the hospitality extended to the militants has come with a price tag. More people have been drawn into the Tigers’ lair because the rebels are reputed to have a lot of money. It is only a small minority which has been drawn to the rebels because of ideological affinity and they are used for propaganda purposes.
For the impoverished fishermen dotting the coastal areas the Tigers represented a passport to a better livelihood. It was the fishermen who formed the first conduit to the state which is now treated by the Tigers as their own backyard. They started by smuggling traditional goods such as electronics items and spices and over the years as the war in the island led to the isolation of Tamils graduated to nipping across with food fuel medicines firearms and often Tigers.
DEEP PENETRATION: While it was a well-known fact that the network in Tamil Nadu was offering invaluable assistance in keeping the war going between the rebels and the Sri Lankan government what had not been grasped was how deep they had penetrated Probe into Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination has helped unmask the lurking Tigers.
It has been revealed that the LTTE had a finger in most business real estate shopping complexes tourist taxis and in the STD-ISD booths dotting the state because these deals fetch money allow easy movement and communication.
Following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi attributed by one and all to the LTTE notwithstanding the pussyfooting by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) the rebels have become pariahs to some.
However despite the erosion of sympathy the support system has not collapsed altogether because of the money being pumped in by the Tamil Nadu police and the attention of the SIT has only uncovered the tip of the iceberg is a Sri Lankan who prefers anonymity.
His involvement in the tight for an independent eelam gives him an insight into the guerrillas which few can boast of. He felt that the LTTE rebel’s were too deeply entrenched here to be weeded out. “Hundreds of Shanmughams live on the coast” he said referring to the man who had harbored the assassins of the former Prime Minister when they landed at Vedaranyam on their diabolical mission. Shanmugham who was picked up by the SIT however managed to evade close questioning by committing suicide.
He said the heat being turned on jointly by the Tamil Nadu police and the SIT was a mere fraction of the kind of pressure they were accustomed to living with. “They have a network. They will go underground” he averred.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 13, 1991
