No doubt, one day soon, we will have an exclusive interview with Ayman Al Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s No 2, ‘regretting’ the loss of life in the twin towers on 9/11, describing it as “a monumental tragedy”. For now, we only have Anton Balasingham, chief toady of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief
V Prabhakaran, playing up to the gullible Indian media, as indeed he has to that of the rest of the world. Balasingham’s crocodile tears on the tragic assassination of Rajiv Gandhi were downright insulting to the people of India, and must have been particularly painful for the Gandhi family and for those of the 17 others killed in the suicide bomb attack.
Read carefully and you will find no apology, no acknowledgment of the LTTE’s complicity, leave alone the need to punish those guilty for it. Balasingham’s role as Prabhakaran’s Goebbels is well-known, as well as his long experience in justifying every murderous act his boss has ordered, of which there have been many. Note that the remarks come a day after the assassination of a Sri Lankan military officer and two weeks after the terrible blast that killed 64 bus passengers in central Sri Lanka.
What the LTTE really seems to be regretting is the loss of the free ride it got in India till Rajiv was killed. The outfit used Tamil Nadu as a staging area for its war with first the Sri Lankan armed forces and then the Indian Peace Keeping Forces. It was only Rajiv’s assassination that led to the rooting out of their clandestine network across the state. Having been recently banned by the EU, in addition to the US, the LTTE is using its trademark insolence to win back India’s favour. It is hoping that the DMK and the PMK, allies of the UPA, will nudge the latter to shift its stand. Whatever be their inclination, the problem for this government or any other, is that Prabhakaran, his intelligence chief Pottu Aman, and women’s wing chief Akila are proclaimed offenders wanted for the murder of a former Indian Prime Minister. No government in New Delhi can forget that, and none has -- not the successor Rao government, nor those by Deve Gowda and Inder Gujral, nor the NDA. As for forgiveness, it can only come after genuine repentance and adequate punishment.
{{/usCountry}}What the LTTE really seems to be regretting is the loss of the free ride it got in India till Rajiv was killed. The outfit used Tamil Nadu as a staging area for its war with first the Sri Lankan armed forces and then the Indian Peace Keeping Forces. It was only Rajiv’s assassination that led to the rooting out of their clandestine network across the state. Having been recently banned by the EU, in addition to the US, the LTTE is using its trademark insolence to win back India’s favour. It is hoping that the DMK and the PMK, allies of the UPA, will nudge the latter to shift its stand. Whatever be their inclination, the problem for this government or any other, is that Prabhakaran, his intelligence chief Pottu Aman, and women’s wing chief Akila are proclaimed offenders wanted for the murder of a former Indian Prime Minister. No government in New Delhi can forget that, and none has -- not the successor Rao government, nor those by Deve Gowda and Inder Gujral, nor the NDA. As for forgiveness, it can only come after genuine repentance and adequate punishment.
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