Tigers divided

With the ?secession?/?expulsion? of V. Muralitharan or ?Colonel Karuna?, the Eastern military commander of the LTTE, from the parent outfit, one of the world?s deadliest terror outfits has recorded its first real split in about a quarter century of its existence.

With the ‘secession’/’expulsion’ of V. Muralitharan or ‘Colonel Karuna’, the Eastern military commander of the LTTE, from the parent outfit, one of the world’s deadliest terror outfits has recorded its first real split in about a quarter century of its existence.

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Reports point to differences with supremo V. Prabhakaran over administrative matters and over the putatively inferior status accorded to the Batticaloa Tamils in relation to those from Jaffna in the LTTE’s scheme. This is unlikely to be the whole story, although it is not clear if there is an ideological underpinning to Karuna’s departure.

But the LTTE claim of being the ‘sole representative’ of Tamil aspirations in Sri Lanka stands dented. It will be another matter if the LTTE can eliminate Karuna, the treatment Pirabhakaran had meted out in the Eighties to another top military tactician, Mahatya. Karuna’s insurance is that he commands a couple of thousand fighters. If they remain loyal, changes in the political contours of the two-year-old ceasefire (as well as the country’s April parliamentary election) may be on the cards. Karuna has already sought a separate truce with Colombo, though nothing is known of the terms. In the Parliament poll, he will no doubt seek to get as many of his proxies elected as he can so that the LTTE does not retain a monopoly of so-called Tamil ‘eelam’ MPs.