PRABAKARAN AND HIS PRESS CONFERENCE

LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran's media conference was an unprecedented event with nearly 300 local and foreign journalists making the tortuous journey to his heavily guarded headquarters in Wanni. For Sri Lanka, this was an unprecedented media event, indicating the impact of the LTTE on the country, and the mystery surrounding its leader which enticed even the world media. The press meet received mixed reviews from its viewers, which would have included virtually the entirety of the Sri Lankan population with access to television.

But one thing is certain. The demon-like and superhuman images of the once elusive Tiger leader disappeared in the glare of the television lights. Prabakaran came across as extremely human and perhaps even ordinary. Especially at the initial stages of the media conference he appeared uneasy and perhaps even trapped as he faced a hostile and critical barrage of questions from foreign and mostly Indian journalists. The human side of Prabakaran may be reassuring to those who believed him capable of superhuman feats and therefore felt threatened to the point of irrationality by him.

The battle for hearts and minds through the television screen is entirely different from the battle for military victory which the LTTE commander has specialised in and in which he has an undoubted genius. The art of persuasion in which politicians excel is entirely different from that of imposing by force which is what the LTTE has excelled in up to now. Perhaps Prabakaran will learn to perform more sophisticatedly at future media conferences as a politician might have done. But for this time it suffices that he came across as speaking without bluff or bluster, addressing the point of the question for the most part and saying why he would not elaborate on other questions.

Those who expected the media conference to herald a startling breakthrough for peace were disappointed. The LTTE leader neither withdrew from his aspiration for an independent state of Tamil Eelam nor did he guarantee that his guns would be spiked forever. On the other hand, there was also relief that he did not strike an intransigent posture that could have undermined the ongoing peace process. While sticking to his old positions, Prabakaran seemed to wish to communicate a determination to stick to the peace process as well. This may account for his repeated assertions that he had faith and confidence in the sincerity of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Thimpu Principles

The LTTE leader also made an important concession when he said that a solution based on the 'Thimpu Principles' could be an alternative to Tamil Eelam indicating that this fell short of separation. Indeed, there was nothing contradictory in Mr Prabakaran asserting that his goal still remained Tamil Eelam and also saying that he believed in the sincerity of the prime minister to find a political solution that would be an acceptable alternative.

At the peace talks in the Bhutanese capital in 1985, all Tamil parties present, including the LITE, took the position that the Tamil people were a nationality and entitled to the right of self-determination within their traditional homeland. One question that has troubled the government is whether the right of self-determination includes the option to secede. At Wanni, Prabakaran, speaking through his theoretician and translator Dr Anton Balasingham, clarified for the first time that internal self-determination could be acceptable, thereby pointing out that the right of self-determination could be exercised by the Tamil people internally in Sri Lanka and without having to secede.

It is clear therefore that the Thimpu Principles hold the key to the longer term political solution that will have to be worked out by the government and LTTE. There is a need to de-mystify the contentious terms of nationality, self-determination and homelands. Other countries have dealt with these issues in a satisfactory manner that has led to a large amount of social peace within them. South Africa is an example of a country that had to deal with the issue of self-determination in its constitution. Spain had to deal with the term nationality in its constitution. Canada has been dealing with the issue of a distinct society within the larger Canadian society and the land claims of its indigenous population.

Civil society organisations may need to take the lead in discussing the issues pertaining to the Thimpu Principles and creating a greater awareness of them in society. At present, there is strong support and near unanimity among the general population for ending the war. However, there will not be that same unanimity about the type of political solution that can bring about a permanent solution to the ethnic conflict. Much work has to be done in that area, for which civil society is better equipped than the government.

Indian attitude

Whatever may be the LTTE's motivation for calling the media conference at this time in Wanni, it clearly did not result in a decisive outcome one way or the other. As in all political encounters, it was but one step in an ongoing process that needs to be encouraged. Perhaps one reason for calling the press together was the LTTE's desire to use the euphoria of the present peace process to create a better image of itself internationally. In recent years, the LTTE has seen its international image hit rock bottom in a manner that cannot befit any organisation that seeks to represent an entire people.

The beginning of the LTTE's international decline was undoubtedly its assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi under the most treacherous circumstances when he was garlanded by a woman suicide bomber during an election rally in May 1991. Elections are the most sacred arena of a democracy's life and those who violate that sanctity can never be respected in the modern world. Having rejected electoral politics, the LTTE cannot understand that the electoral process cannot be trifled with, if international respect is sought after.

The beginning stage of the Norwegian mediated peace process might have seemed to be the ideal opportunity for the LITE to present itself in a new light. Better now than later, might have been its calculation, considering the uncertainties of the peace process as time goes on. However, after the media conference the LTTE would have a more realistic assessment of this prospect. Without public repentance, a new leadership, or vindication by standing for elections, the LTTE has an uphill task to convince a sceptical international community about its bona fides.

At Wanni, it was evident that the most unforgiving component of the international media was the large contingent of Indian journalists. The assassination of their former prime minister loomed very large in their sharp and hostile questioning. They kept on pressing Prabakaran on this matter to which his response was the only one that is possible at this time — to put the past behind and look to the future, while recognising the irreversible tragedy of the past.

Many who oppose what the LTTE stands for would have taken satisfaction in the hostility of the Indian journalists to the man whom they believe murdered Rajiv Gandhi. His was a precious life in a sea of tens of thousands of lives that have been lost due to the ethnic conflict. But an intransigent Indian attitude towards Prabakaran will pose a major road block to the peace process in Sri Lanka, which almost all Sri Lankans with a few miserable exceptions yearn for. The LTTE will be loath to join the mainstream of a non-militarised Sri Lankan society if they feel that their leader will be nabbed by India in the process.

For peace to come to Sri Lanka, and perhaps anywhere else in the world, the past has to be buried and the future must be looked towards. Sri Lankans – Sinhalas, Tamils and Muslims – have to forget the past regarding each other's atrocities. Sri Lankans also have to bury the past with regard to their great neighbour India, which once trained and armed the Tamil militants, including the LTTE. As a good neighbour, which it is to Sri Lanka at this time, and for the sake of peace in Sri Lanka, India needs to find a way to let go of the past that it once aided and abetted in an underhand way to create.

The announcement by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee shortly after the LTTE leader's media conference that India will consider permitting Dr Anton Balasingham to make use of Indian territory for his health needs is positive in this context. It is a humanitarian gesture that may include a desire to assist in the success of the Sri Lankan peace process. On the other hand, some of the Indian opposition parties, including the Congress Party that Rajiv Gandhi once led, have called for Prabakaran's extradition to face murder charges in India. These sentiments are understandable, but they will not help Sri Lanka on its difficult road to peace.