A CRISIS among the leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has shaken that organisation to its roots leading many to question its future as the dominant expression of Sri Lankan nationalism.
One time deputy leader of the LTTE, Gopalasamy Mahendrarajah, better known by his nom de guerre 'Mahattaya'. was arrested along with 120 of his supporters late last year by Tiger cadres.
What shocked Tiger members and supporters was the disclosure in December of his execution planned for January. Some of his loyalists had already faced the revolutionary justice' of a kangaroo court. The charges were essentially of treason to the LTTE and its absolute leader, V Prabhakaran.
According to the Tigers, Mahattaya, had been secretly collaborating with the Indian intelligence service and plotting to topple Prabhakaran.
Appeals from the Tamil expatriate lobby and from Amnesty International as well as a courageous demonstration of civilians in the Tiger stronghold of Jaffna peninsula led to reTiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran with 'Mahathaya' Gopalasamy Mahendrarajah (left) ports of a commution of his sen- Tamil people', it was not won tence. by freely obtained consent or a However there are uncon- coalition reflecting the strands firmed reports he may well be of the liberation movement. dead by now. If not, according Instead they launched attacks to one source he has been so against rival Tamil militant badly tortured that he will never groups like TELO, PLOTE and be the focus of opposition to the EPRLF, decimating their Prabhakaran. leaderships. Leftists such as a The elevation of militarism leader of the NSSP, Annamalai, as its guiding principle and its were killed. ruthless methods made the Even individuals who made LTTE a feared opponent of the criticisms of their undemocratic Sri Lankan and Indian armies. It methods like the socialist femiwas symbolised by the cyanide nist Rajani Thiranagama, were capsule that all Tiger cadres gunned down. wear around their neck, to be The difference with Mahatswallowed in the event of cap- taya was his importance with ture. the Tigers and his support for When the Tigers demanded LTTE policy down the line. recognition as the "sole legiti- There were no dissensions on mate representatives of the the Anuradhapura massacre in 1985 when 150 Sinhala civilians were slain in the streets or the massacre of Muslim civilians in the east in 1990.
This episode reflects the weakness of the Tigers organisation and Prabhakaran's strength. Nobody takes seriously the trumped up charges levelled against Mahattaya.
Tamil support for the LTTE is sustained by fear and grudging respect.
In free elections it is likely they would command minority support from the increasingly war weary and long suffering residents of Jaffna.
Their situation is grim. Since the renewal of hostilities in June 1990 between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE, the government has mounted an economic blockade of the Peninsula seeking to starve Tamil civilians into revolting against the Tigers.
The Air Force and Navy regularly bombard homes, schools, places of worship and medical centres.
Many would sue for peace with the chauvinist Sri Lankan government to regain some sanity in their lives. Apparently Mahattaya and some others favoured immediate negotiations with the government and a po- WORLD NEWS litical solution short of an independent Tamil state of Eelam.
In a movement where democratic debate is alien, young boys and women are cannon fodder and the aims of a liberation struggle have been subordinated to those of a power hungry clique, there was only one way Prabhakaran could respond to any challenge to his authority.
Can the Tiger cadres be weaned away from their self-destructive ideology? Will the repugnance of many marginalise the LTTE creating a new democratic space and a renewal of thinking on the politics of Tamil struggle?
On all this and much more the progressive wing of Tamil nationalism and the broader Sri Lankan left will be tested.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 59, 26 March 1994, Page 12 SAUX 10,000 2000 By Chris Brooks
ILLE
20,000 1600* BLOIS PARIS 32,000 • BOURGES CHATCHUN US MONTAUBAN 1000 @ CASTRES TOULOUSE 20,000 RCAACASSONNE MERCOURT G ORRY LYON 20,000 MILLAU 1000 Demonstration of under 1,000 Demonstration of 11,000 to 5,000 GENOBLE 10,000 11520 Demonstration of 5,000 to 10,000 Demonstration of over 10,000 for six months on weekly wages between £50 and £134 — far below the minimum wage or "Smic'. The contract is only renewable once.
Responding to initial protests, employment minister Michel Giraud met 7 March with the CIP 'partners', the employers gang-pressed into sponsoring the scheme, to agree a major retreat.
Youth with college diplomas on the contract will now be paid 80 per cent of the agreed minimum wage for the industry, for 80 per cent of the time.
Employers now have to provide tuition on the job, a move which has alarmed the trades union federations. The CGT oppose any acceptance of the new arrangement. According to Force Ouvrière's Marc Blondel, the tutorials are reactionary' and threaten a return to the power of the 'apprentices' diaries compiled by employers in the 19th century.
The anger on the demonstrations has been marked. One riot police commissioner commented 'For the first time in a 25-year career, I felt afraid. We felt the desire of the demonstrators was to injure us physically and, for some, to kill us'.
Unemployment, especially