"To safeguard our nation and our people, it has been decided to get rid of Karuna from our soil.................... Muralitharan. Anybody who opposes disciplinary action against Karuna will be considered as a traitor to the Tamil national cause."

- LTTE Statement of March 25

By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The ultimatum issued by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam hierarchy on March 25 has been counter productive as far as eastern cadres  of the LTTE were concerned. Instead of making eastern Tigers abandon or turn against Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna as expected the ultimatum has only helped to strengthen his position among his loyal cadre it is reported.

On March 25 the LTTE issued a strong statement against Karuna. In contrast to the earlier stance of resolving the crisis without resorting to bloodshed the LTTE now threatened military action.

In a statement addressed to eastern Tigers the LTTE leveled charges against Karuna  and accused him of rebelling in order to save himself from disciplinary action. It went on to say in ominous tones:

"Making use of cadres and people who are not aware of the truth, Karuna is planning to betray the freedom struggle and our national spirit and thereby falling into the hands of traitors and enemies. The blood that was shed and the sacrifices made are being bartered by Karuna. To safeguard our nation and our people, it has been decided to get rid of Karuna from our soil."

In a blatant exercise of intimidating eastern Tiger cadres the LTTE statement went on to say-

"Our cadres should comprehend Karuna's treachery and keep away from Muralitharan. Anybody who opposes disciplinary action against Karuna will be considered as a traitor to the Tamil national cause. Based on the understanding that all the cadres enrolled themselves in the movement accepting the leadership of Veluppillai Pirapaharan and that the parents entrusted their children on this basis, we request that the cadres who are with Karuna now, without knowing the truth, should abandon him."

Operatives of the LTTE intelligence wing led by Pottu Amman have been infiltrating the east clandestinely through southern  parts of the district and adjacent Amparai. A low - key campaign of distributing leaflets, pamphlets against Karuna and pasting of anti - Karuna posters  has been going on.

Pottu Amman's operatives have also been working on Karuna's men who opted to remain neutral in the intra - Tiger conflict. There are over a 1000 of them who have returned home. They have said that they will be back if a fight with the Sinhala state erupts again. They were not prepared to fight for Karuna against the leader Pirapaharan.

Pottu's operatives (several easterners included) started working on these persons clandestinely and managed to convert their mindset. As a result about 250 to 300 cadres have left the east and gone to the Wanni. The Kilinochchi hierarchy seems to have been elated by this trend and presumably felt confident enough to issue the public appeal.

Opposite effect

If the LTTE leadership expected the appeal coupled with a campaign of selective terror would be enough to compel more cadres to desert Karuna the action seems to have had the opposite effect. Hundreds of cadres who opted to be neutral initially have now revised their stance and are re - joining Karuna. As a result Karuna is retrieving lost politico - military ground now. The reasons for these are discussed in another article on this page.

The LTTE campaign of violence has been limited and selective. Adding insult to injury the Tigers officially issued statements condemning the violent acts and tried to shift blame to Karuna himself. Even if people elsewhere were taken in by this deception eastern Tamils were not because they knew the truth. No Tamil believed Colombo when state propaganda claimed innocence and blamed 'terrorists' for unleashing state terror.

Eastern Tamils are also hurt and angry that the Tigers should practice violent terror in Batticaloa after Velupillai Pirapaharan gave an assurance that the problem would be resolved without resorting to bloodshed. Now the LTTE has gone back on this.

The first violent blow was struck when two assassins on motorcycles shot and wounded an agronomist at the Eastern University, Prof. Theivanayagam Thiruchelvam, at his home on Mariamman street, Kalladdy.

The 41 year old acting dean of the agriculture faculty was a strong eastern Tamil 'sub - nationalist' and was allegedly a powerful 'voice' supportive of Karuna at the varsity. Some eastern intellectuals and professionals who encouraged Karuna initially have now changed course and betrayed him to Kilinochchi. Thiruchelvam was shot apparently as a result of this whistle blowing.

On March 27 the Batticaloa Government Agent, Rathinam Mounaguruswamy was shot and critically wounded by assassins on motorcycles. Sixty three year old Mounaguruswamy is the first Batticaloa Tamil to be GA of the district . This was during the UNP government of old. He was regarded as close to K.W. Devanayagam and Chelliah Rajadurai.

Mounaguruswamy was brought back  from retirement to head the district after the ceasefire. The previous GA Shanmugam had fallen foul of the LTTE and been given the 'varippuli' treatment. Mounaguruswamy was even viewed as a potential candidate of the LTTE controlled Tamil National Alliance for Batticaloa. He was tipped to be the secretary to any Eastern Regional Development Ministry in the future.

The Batticaloa GA was returning from the Tiger controlled region of Vaharai where he had gone to supervise arrangements for people to vote at the forthcoming elections. Apparently the GA had met Vinayagamoorthy Sivanesathurai alias Reggie, the area commander and brother of Karuna.

The assailants were waiting for the GA by the roadside and as the vehicle entered Batticaloa municipal limits raced up to him at a place called Pillaiarady and fired. Even as the GA was taken to the Intensive Care Unit at the Colombo National Hospital the Batticaloa grapevine had it that  the man had been warned not to interact with Karuna or his men by the Tigers and so had been shot as soon as it happened.

A gruesome murder

Monday, March 29 saw another gruesome murder, that went largely unnoticed in the media presumably because the victim was relatively unimportant. 48 year old Velupillai Ganesh who owned a tea stall near the Batticaloa bus stand was brutally hacked to death by unknown persons.

Ganesh was from Kiran, the same village that Karuna hails from and was  distantly related to the latter. He also had a photograph of Karuna displayed in the stall. The suspects were intelligence operatives of the LTTE.

The next day March 30 saw a horrible double murder. The victims were a Tamil politician and his brother in law.

Sixty one year old Perinbarajah Sathiyamoorthy generally known as Rajan Sathiyamoorthy was contesting the forthcoming elections as a candidate of the LTTE sponsored Tamil National Alliance(TNA) under the house symbol of the old Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi.

After the Karuna split the TNA in the east too got divided and Sathiyamoorthy was regarded as Karuna's staunchest TNA ally and was strongly tipped to get a cabinet portfolio if the TNA group supporting Karuna became part of a future government. The Karuna faction was campaigning actively for Sathiyamoorthy and wanted him to get the most amount of preference votes.

Two young men entered Sathiyamoorthy's house on Trincomalee in Thandavanvely on that fateful morning and shot the man and his 47 year old brother in law Kandiah Kanagasabai as they emerged from the shrine room after morning pooja at about 8. 20 am.

The LTTE motives in the killing pattern were unmistakably clear. The east being under Karuna's control was now enemy territory. The earlier declaration of resolving the problem without violence was no longer valid.

The intention was to unleash terror and pressurise Karuna's supporters into turning against or at least abandon him. An influential academic, the top most district administrator, an important politician and an ordinary small businessman were all targeted because they were perceived as being supportive of Karuna.

If the LTTE leadership thought that this assassination campaign along with the direct statement and anti - Karuna propaganda was enough to de- moralise Karuna or his men it had miscalculated badly.

Karuna hit back hard and fast. In a sweeping  pre - dawn strike Karuna's men searched a select group of around 200 houses at seven different areas and  arrested about 50 - 60 persons. At least 35 of them were alleged intelligence wing members from the north sent to campaign against Karuna.

An interesting development was the seizure of an intelligence operative named 'Neelan.' This man is suspected of being involved in the Rajiv Gandhi killing and is a close associate of Pottu Amman. This is apparently a prize catch for Karuna and a useful chip to bargain with in the future.

Almost all the suspect houses searched belonged to people of Jaffna origin now residing in Batticaloa. Karuna felt that the northern Tamils living in the east were potential fifth columnists for the LTTE leadership.

Moreover there were two other irritants. One was that the bulk of commercial enterprises in the east are owned by Muslims and Jaffna Tamils. After the split Karuna had suspended the tax system and had solicited voluntary donations. The Jaffna business persons had not paid up after March 3.

The second concerned Batticaloa district ex - Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham. The Chief TNA candidate for the district, Pararajasingham was the only one on the list opposing Karuna's 'regionalism.'

Karuna had then banned him from electioneering. A large number of Joseph' s supporters, many of them of Jaffna origin, had moved to his house to 'protect' him.

Pararajasingham also made a public appeal asking people to vote for him as one advocating Tamil nationalism as against regionalism. The majority of about 20, 000 Jaffna Tamil people  in the district were expected to vote for him.

Against Jaffna Tamils

Thus Karuna and his men turned angrily against the Jaffna Tamils living in their midst.

Many Jaffna families had been in Batticaloa for generations. A public notice ordered all 'alien treacherous elements' to quit the east within 24 hours. Karuna's cadres also went to all the northern Tamil traders, businessmen and small industrialists and ordered them to leave.

This was in LTTE controlled areas and some parts of government controlled areas.

Their houses, businesses and property were taken over. Several people were sent away with only Rs. 500 per person. This forced evacuation was in a way reminiscent of the LTTE mass expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna in 1990 where each person was allowed only Rs.150.

Several threatening telephone calls telling them to leave at once were also received by northern residents. In some places vehicles with loudspeakers made announcements. Karuna's newspaper Tamil Alai also published the notice.

Pararajasingham and his supporters, those helping the Wanni leadership and the kith and kin of the eastern cadre now supporting Pirapaharan were also asked to leave.

At least four shops were looted. One was burnt. Soon the northern Tamils began leaving Batticaloa District for the north and Colombo. About a 1000 had left by March 31. By April 2 the number had reached 5000.

Several people who left had not been warned directly but left due to fear of the future. The Batticaloa General Hospital was practically crippled due to several Jaffna doctors leaving.

Interestingly enough the LTTE ultimatum to Karuna and his cadres coupled with the terror campaign of assassination seems to have been counterproductive.

Hundreds of cadres who had gone home earlier as they wanted to be neutral in this intra - Tiger conflict now began returning to Karuna's side.

Patrolling and vigilance was intensified. Northern infiltration ceased temporarily. So too did the anti - Karuna propaganda.

Two other LTTE stratagems against Karuna too have backfired. One was the attempt to woo Karuna's brother Sivanesathurai alias Reggie and make him cross over to Pirapaharan's side with about 1000 cadres. Unbeliveable as it may seem the approach to Reggie was made through a very close relative of his. Reggie has refused point blank.

Failed attempt

The other was a failed attempt to kill Karuna. A person called Senchudaron detailed to drive an escort vehicle for Karuna made a botched attempt at Tharavai itself. He and four alleged accomplices were rounded up. Karuna himself executed Senchudaron personally it is learnt.

The LTTE is trying for a quick assassination or rapid commando type raid to kill Karuna. It is also trying for a mass defection.

Just as the LTTE mainstream keeps quiet about certain things and denies others Karuna too is following suit. His spokesman Varathan who quoted Wordsworth to BBC's Frances Harrison keeps on flatly denying everything that has happened. Denial is his stock in trade.

Varathan denied that Karuna and his men were chasing away or asking Jaffna Tamils  to leave Batticaloa. In a clumsy attempt to shift blame Varathan said government elements may be responsible. But the 'Tamil Alai' published by Karuna at Kokkatticholai carried the warnings and threats calling for expulsion of aliens.

A deep divide however has emerged on regional lines of north and east. Broader Tamil nationalism has taken a heavy blow and the chief casualty could be the temporarily merged North - Eastern Province.

Both the Karuna and anti - Karuna factions were canvassing for the TNA. The pro - Pirapaharan elements would like Joseph Pararajasingham to win. The pro - Karuna elements will like others on the list to win. The Karuna favourite Rajan is no more. Vote rigging has been rampant in areas outside Batticaloa town and other urban centres.

The  situation however is taking a turn for the worse and there is every possibility that a fratricidal bloodbath could occur. Eastern people are terrified of the future in this regard.

The appeal made by a group of religious leaders led by the Catholic Bishop of Batticaloa appealing for peace and an end to violence is the only silver lining in what seems to be a very, very dark cloud on the eastern political horizon of Sri Lanka.

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