War ends, Pressure mounts

The 18^th of May 2008 has to be remembered for a couple of reasons. The first is something that had a part of the mighty Indian population cheer as the digital boards of both the BSE and NSE hit the upper circuit for the first time in history with just a mere 2 minutes of exchange. And the second reason is a thing of cheer to a few and a misery to many others when Selvarasa Pathmanathan stated on a webpage with its source code reading,

"The battle has reached a bitter end ... We have decided to silence our guns. Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer"

While this was the statement released by the chief of international relations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conceeding defeat which made the global tamil community tear , the man of the moment President Mahinda Rajapaksa set foot on the Eelam land declaring the military victory and the death of the LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran which resulted in celebrations all across the lankan island.

Where did all this begin and has it really come to an end are questions that are hard to answer at present without surfing the pages of history and the path that is to be taken from this juncture. We’ve heard enough reports about the cat and rat ritraff that has taken place between the two entities for over two decades now but what is unknown to most of the outside world is the administrative finesse of the Tigers. They are the only such rebel group that had all the three wings of defence. The Northern and Eastern province of Srilanka which is claimed to be the Jaffna Peninsula comes under the Tigers and is what that stakes demand to be the Eelam.

Operating the Jaffna with Kilinochchi as its administrative capital, the Tigers had their own military, legislative and judicial systems. It also had a police squad of it’s own to put down internal crimes. They had framed a set of laws and have had a judicial hierarchy with the supreme court at its helm. The laws were reframed at regular intervals which dealt with criminal cases such as rape, murder, treason and arson. The crime rate in this region is said to be very low due to the authoritarian laws of the LTTE. And the Tamils people preferred these courts rather than the Sri Lankan courts.

The Tigers had a planning commission that went on to provide the tamils with education, health and other services. It is said that most of the civil servants who worked in this region were directed by the Tigers though they were paid by the Sri Lankan Government. They even had a separate Human Rights organization which is not approved by the International community but still was effective. They broadcasted their own television and radio channels which ran in the name Voice of Tigers. A Separate bank named Bank of Tamileelam provided Lankan money with high interest rates and operated in almost all parts of the Eelam.

Velupillai Prabhakaran is a name of mixed response. As a saviour to the tamils, as a devil to the Sinhalese, as one of the world’s most wanted terrorists and both as a tyrant and a pacifier but this man was the one who operated as the first, last and only chief of these brave cadres. And now that he is dead and the tigers are finished after the worlds biggest civilian hostage rescue the war has come to an end. But for the tamils, their only hope is lost.

Will they be given equal importance as the Sinhalese by the Sri Lankan Government or will they once again be denied their rights is something for us to sit and watch as the days will answer. But one thing is for sure, if the same attitude of the Sinhalese domination prevails then there will for sure be a lot more of cubs walking back to claim it’s den.