JAFENA: Tamil separatist rebels have launched their biggest ever recruitment drives in preparation for an intensified war following the declaration by President Dingiri Banda Wijetunga that the Civil war in the north and the east is a ‘terrorist problem,” effectively closing the door on peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
“We have always had recruitment drives but this is different. We expect the Sri Lankan forces to launch a major operation next year 1o capture Jaffna. The Government has closed the door for negotiations and we have no choice but to prepare for total war,” an LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham said.
In a policy change, Wijetunga declared the fighting was between 4 groups of terrorists and the army. He ordered the army to clear the eastern province by January next year to hold local elections and a referendum on whether the eastern and northern provinces should be merged, a demand by all Tamil political groups, including the LTTE.
The hardline attitude of the Government is seen as the reason for the major changes in the LTTE leadership. The hawks have won and those fighting for a political settlement have lost, according to a representative of a foreign nongovernment organization in Jafina. Three months ago, Mahendrarajah, considered LTTE’s second in command, was arrested and detained on the orders of LTTE supremo Prabhakaran. He was the leader of the party registered by the LTTE in 1989 during peace talks with the Sri Lankan Government His deputy, Yogi, once a high-profile spokesman of the movement, has been demoted and is now doing political works among new recruits in the northern mainland.
“When a tiger is covered, it will fight back fiercely in self-defense. ‘That is the position we are faced with, the army is at our doorstep. We are in a life-and-death situation,” said Balasingham.
Last month, the army launched its first major operation in the rebel stronghold of Jaffna in 18 months in an attempt to cripple the boat Service across the lagoon. The army destroyed about 400 boats but the LTTE had shifted 600 others to safety. Although 120 soldiers and 140 rebels were killed in the operation, the rebels managed to reopen the crossing 48 hours after the army pulled back.
The Lankan forces are unlikely to launch any major operation until the northeast monsoon rains end around February next year. The LTTE’s recruitment drive is aimed at using breathing space to train fresh cadres. Jaffna is the soul of the LTTE and all its leaders come from here. Losing the peninsula would be disastrous for the outfit.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 12, 1993
