After 15 years, LTTE apologises for Rajiv Gandhi killing

NEW DELHI: In a virtual admission of guilt, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas have expressed "deep regret" over the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and sought a "new relationship" with India so that it plays an "active role" to resolve the island's ethnic conflict.

In an interview to NDTV, Anton Balasingham, the ideologue of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), described the May 21, 1991 killing of Gandhi by a Tiger woman suicide bomber as "a monumental historical tragedy".

"As far as that event is concerned ... I would say it is a great tragedy ... a monumental historical tragedy ... for which we deeply regret, and we call upon the government of India and people of India to be magnanimous to put the past behind ... and to approach the ethnic question in a different perspective."

The LTTE had initially vehemently denied any involvement in the killing of Gandhi, who was blown up at an election rally at Sriperumbudur near Chennai by a LTTE woman strapped with explosives.

Once Indian investigating agencies proved that the LTTE was very much involved, the Tigers changed track. At the April 2002 press conference by LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran in Kilinochchi, Balasingham called the Gandhi killing a "thunbiyal" (sorrowful event).

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This is the first time anyone as senior in the LTTE as Balasingham, one of the oldest confidants of Prabhakaran, has virtually admitted the Tigers' role in the killing of Gandhi. NDTV said Balasingham was interviewed somewhere in Europe.

Asked if the LTTE could promise that it would not commit such acts again, Balasingham went on: "We have made pledges to the government of India that under no circumstances we will act against the interest of the government of India."

He said India had "played a detached role" in Sri Lankan affairs since the assassination of Gandhi. "What we feel is India should actively involve in the peace process.

"India has been silent for the last 15 years and adopted a detached role. Now (that) there is possibility of war emerging, so she can't keep quiet but she has to face challenges... and to adopt ... orientate a new foreign policy towards her neighbour for which the relationship between the LTTE and India is crucial.

"I think we are prepared to build up a new understanding... a new relationship with the government of India provided she makes a positive gesture and it is up to the government of India because we have already pledged that we will never to do anything or act anything inimical to the geo-political interest of India.

"So if the past is put aside and if a new approach is made, then there is possibility of India playing a positive active role in bringing a resolution to this conflict."

But Balasingham underlined that the LTTE did not want from India any "military intervention as has happened in the past" and made it clear nor India cannot play the mediator's role as long as it keeps the LTTE outlawed.

India banned the LTTE as a terrorist organization in 1992. Prabhakaran is wanted in India for Gandhi's killing.

He said without "a relationship ... a working relationship between the government of India and the LTTE ... it would be difficult for India to have a mediator's role.

"The only role which she can play is diplomatically and politically persuading Sri Lanka and LTTE to seek a negotiated settlement rather than involving in a military confrontation. That is what she is doing now."

Balasingham referred to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent appeal to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse not to allow the armed forces to kill innocent civilians and to go for some form of regional autonomy.

"So this kind of intervention ... diplomatic intervention is crucial. It would help to protect our people from (being) subjected to genocidal operations by the Sri Lankan armed forces and also help both the parties to go for a negotiated settlement."

He agreed that a mass exodus of Tamils from Sri Lanka to India triggered by fresh fighting "will create far-reaching political consequences". He also referred to appeals from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi to New Delhi to intervene in Sri Lankan affairs.

"India is responding in that aspect. Therefore as you say India has genuine concerns, geopolitical and national interests in the resolution of this conflict."

The LTTE ideologue described India as "the regional superpower in South Asia" and said she just cannot ignore "this conflict" in her backyard.

"India has genuine national and geopolitical interest in that region. She has to insure that there is peace and stability in the environment."

Balasingham also went into the past, saying India once trained LTTE fighters not to split up Sri Lanka but "to protect our people from state oppression".

Asked about the 1987 India-Sri Lanka peace pact, which the LTTE dumped before taking on Indian troops deployed in the island's northeast, he said that agreement "did not satisfy the political aspirations of our people.

"If India had offered a federal solution as she has in her own country, then we would have definitely responded positively.

"But the provincial administration suggested by India was totally inadequate to meet the demands of the Tamil people. That's why we did not support the accord."