MOST FEARED| The LTTE have transformed itself into one of the worlds most feared and disciplined guerrilla movements.
The Tamil side was fronted by the LTTE, who under the leadership of Veluppilai Prabhakaran distinguished themselves both for their willingness to fight and their ruthless purging of other Tamil groups. The LTTE soon established themselves as the core voice of Tamil aspirations, demanding from their cadres fierce loyalty and total commitment to the cause: an independent Tamil homeland in the north and the east of the country.
The LTTE have since transformed itself into one of the worlds most feared and disciplined guerrilla movements. An elite “Black Tiger” suicide squad has carried out numerous political assassinations. Ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Sinhalese civilians from their territory has further cemented their reputation for bloody extremism. There have been several, and ultimately all failed, attempts to negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict. The last attempt collapsed completely in January this year, when the government officially withdrew from a ceasefire negotiated with the help of the Norwegian government in 2002. The government has since launched an all out war against the LTTE, in an attempt to regain territory held by the rebels in the northern part of Sri Lanka. Observers claim more than 5,000 people have been killed this year alone, adding to a death toll of more than 70 000 people. In addition more than 200 000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of the escalating fighting.
Propaganda machine
Not much of this however, can be read in Sri Lanka's newspapers, which are dominated by government propaganda. Professor Uyangoda at the University of Colombo says, that those critical of the war are facing a difficult time.
He belongs to a minority, even among the academic community, he claims. “The academic community is very much divided on the questions of war and peace. The vast majority of academics do not take a public position on this question. Then secondly there is a very sizable community of academics who support the war and a military solution. And there is a very small community of academics who do not support the war, who advocate the need for a politically negotiated settlement.”
To work against the government’s war machinery, or the LTTE for that matter, comes at a price. Numerous academics, journalists and human rights activists have been killed throughout the conflict.
“We have no way to protect ourselves. We know that we are vulnerable but what we do is that we take a lot of care not to antagonize any centers of power. So we have to be very careful about what we say and what we do. We had a similar period in the 1980s. What is important is to survive these periods,” Uyangoda says.