With the death of Prabhakaran, the long and violent war in Sri Lanka is finally over. The once formidable LTTE, known for its suicide attacks and cyanide pills, now stands vanquished. Though the LTTE claims that the reports of Prabhakaran’s death are fake, the images of a dead Prabhakaran seen on television leave no doubt that he is indeed no more.

Under Prabhakaran, during its peak, with Jaffna as its centre, the LTTE controlled almost one fourth part of Sri Lanka. They also had their own police and court system and ran a parallel government. Prabhakaran had built a formidable and disciplined force which not only had sizable armed cadres, but was the only recognized terrorist organization in the world to have a navy and an air force.

However a number of factors as well as strategic mistakes on part of Prabhakaran slowly led to the decline of LTTE. With Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, India became the first country in the world to recognize LTTE as a terrorist organization. Any sympathy that LTTE might have had among non-Tamils within India was lost with this mistake.

LTTE also assassinated the Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premdasa and continued its rampant terror attacks on civilians. LTTE was also reported to have forced conscription on many Tamilians, used child soldiers in its war and recently reported to have used human shields in its last ditch effort to prevent defeat. It also eliminated any opposition from any other Tamil organizations with moderate viewpoints. Its ultimate aim was the formation of an independent Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka at any cost. As a result a number of peace efforts and many talks proved ineffective in brokering lasting peace between the SL government and the LTTE.

During the presidential elections in 2005, LTTE boycotted the elections and forcibly prevented Tamils from voting. This mistake on part of LTTE led to the election of Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who won the elections narrowly and whose main agenda was not peace talks with LTTE, but complete defeat of the LTTE and an end to the civil war.

LTTE’s sources of income included a number of illegal activities as well as support from the Tamil diaspora abroad. However with the 9/11 attacks bringing terrorist threat to the forefront, LTTE found it more and more difficult to gain the required funds to keep up its war. Also a split within the LTTE led to further weakening.  During this period of trouble within LTTE, SL strengthened its army considerably and finally began making inroads in LTTE held territory which slowly led “to the bitter end of the Tamil struggle” as admitted by the LTTE itself. Prabhakaran was found dead and there have been reports of the discovery of the dead bodies of his family members including his daughter and 13 year old son.

The Lankans celebrated the death of Prabhakaran and the end of war in SL with sweets and firecrackers. Though the 26 year long war has finally come to an end, it is being predicted that LTTE will still continue with its guerrilla tactics and suicide bombings. The Tamil diaspora which includes internationally known pop artists like M.I.A, also refuses to accept defeat. However the Tamil diaspora has also received flak from some quarters for protesting against an end to a war which has devastated thousands of lives, while they themselves sit in comfort abroad. In the absence of Prabhakaran it remains to be seen if and how the LTTE can keep up its fight.

Now the most important task lying in front of the SL government is unifying and rebuilding a nation torn apart by years of war and ethnic strife. First of all, proper relocation of a large number of displaced civilians is one of the major tasks on their hands. Also the SL government, needs to own up for the large number of human rights violations that it has reportedly committed. The government should make its best efforts in removing the feeling of alienation among Tamils and giving them equal rights and opportunities in all areas. The media suppression needs to stop and freedom of expression which seems to have been lost in this conflict, needs to be restored. Only time will tell whether President Rajapaksa, who has etched his name in Sri Lankan history for bringing an end to LTTE, can also bring lasting peace and prosperity to this tiny island nation.

P.S: A Tamil friend of mine (Indian, not Sri lankan) who feels the LTTE cause is justified but methods are wrong, is of the opinion that the views expressed in the last para (….removing the feeling of alienation among Tamils and giving them equal rights ….) unfortunately wont ever come true. He and I both hope that he is wrong.

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