It’s all over for the Tigers

The Tamil Tigers conceded defeat in Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long civil war on Sunday, after launching waves of suicide attacks to repel a final assault by troops.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) founder-leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s fate remained a mystery, though military sources said a body believed to be his was recovered and its identity was being established. “They are taking the body for checks to confirm it is the real Prabhakaran,” a military officer told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

By midday on Sunday, the Sri Lankan military said troops had freed all the civilians being held by the LTTE inside an area of less than a square kilometre. A total of 72,000 civilians had fled since Thursday, it said.  

“We are doing the mopping-up operations,” Nanayakkara said. “Suicide cadres are coming in front of troops in the frontline and exploding themselves.” 

Pro-rebel website TamilNet.com released a statement from the LTTE’s head of international relations saying: “This battle has reached its bitter end.”

“We remain with one last choice — to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns,” Selvarajah Pathmanathan’s statement said. But there was no mention in the statement of surrender.

The Sri Lankan Army spokesman’s response to the LTTE statement led to speculation that perhaps Colombo was waiting for the Indian elections to get over before making an announcement. The plight of the Tamil civilians had been an emotive electoral issue in Tamil Nadu.

“They were actually defeated some time ago, but they have formally accepted defeat only now,” brigadier Nanayakkara said. “They fought for an Eelam that they could never win. It was only a waste of lives. They have caused massive death and destruction over the years. Finally they themselves have realised that it is all over,” he said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was due to make a formal victory announcement in Parliament on Tuesday morning, but already flags were flying, people were dancing, and fireworks were being lit.

India has not made any official statement so far. But New Delhi’s role will now be to ensure that Colombo delivers on its promise to give equal rights to the Tamil minority in the island country. Rajapaksa will be under enormous pressure from India to give a political package to the Tamils after the military victory of his forces. India will also pour in enormous aid for the reconstruction of the Tamil areas in the North and the East.

Meanwhile, security was beefed up across Tamil Nadu as police feared that pro-Eelam activists in the state could give vent to their anger. —Agencies