Info on Prabhakaran's end withheld for Indian polls?
Many question marks over Prabhakaran's death
Here is the sequence of reports about Prabhakaran's death which emanated from Sri Lankan government and other sources:
May 18: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announces that Prabhakaran had been killed while trying to escape advancing Sri Lanka Army troops.
May 19: Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry announces that a body found by the shore of Nandikadal Lagoon has been identified as that of Prabhakaran. The body was later shown on Sri Lankan media. Rajapaksa makes no mention of Prabhakaran's death in his address to Sri Lankan Parliament. UK-based Tamil Tiger spokesperson Selvarasa Pathmanathan claims that Prabhakaran was still alive and safe.
May 25: LTTE confirms Prabhakaran's death
May 29: A DNA test confirms Prabhakaran's and his son Charles Anthony's deaths.
The reported recovery of Prabhakaran's body raised more questions than it answered. How exactly was Prabhakaran killed and why was the body found in a no-fire zone, when the army claimed they had trapped him in a 300 square meter area? Was he alive when the military found him, or had the leader of the Tamil rebels killed himself before they got to him?
Why would the most hunted man in Sri Lanka dress in army camouflage and carry his ID papers on him? Why did it take 11 days to get a DNA confirmation of Prabhakaran's death?
Was the announcement about recovery of Prabhakaran's body timed to complete the election process in India?
The last phase of elections in India took place on May 13, 2009, and the results were out on May 16. Tamil Nadu which was most sensitive about the Sri Lankan Tamil issue went to the polls on May 13. There were many Prabhakaran sympathisers among Tamil Nadu politicians of all hues. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidh went on a brief fast to empathise with Sri lankan Tamils. There was a DMK-sponsored Tamil Nadu bandh over the killings of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan Army. AIADMK leader Jayalalitaa openly advocated creation of a Tamil Eelam. MDMK leader Vaiko had warned of a `bloodbath' if Prabhakaran was harmed. If the reports of Prabhakaran's murder had come before May 13, it would have radically changed the Tamil Nadu pollscape. TheDMK-Congress ties would have come under severe strain. Jayalalitaa would have taken electoral advantage of the situation.
Did Rajapaksa offer a quid pro quo to UPA?
There is hush hush talk in political circles that the then Congress dispensation had prevailed upon Rajapaksa about the serious impact Prabhakaran's death could make on elections in India, particularly on the fortunes of the Congress party which was dependent on DMK for forming its next government at the Centre. Rajapaksa knows that his fight to finish the LTTE would not have been such a signal success but for the helping hand extended by Indian Navy by way of effective coastal surveillance which blocked LTTE's escape routes by sea. So, was the timing of the announcement about Prabhakaran's death a quid pro quo for the support extended by the Congress-led Indian government to the war against LTTE?
Rehabilitation of Tamils a big challenge
Now that Prabhakaran is gone and a new government is in place in India, the rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils is the major challenge for the two countries. The post-conflict scenario calls for rehabilitation, reconciliation and resettlement as well as empowering of the affected people. The Sri Lankan government has said that it is currently addressing the requirements of about 300,000 internally displaced persons and conducting extensive rehabilitation programmes for about 8,000 former LTTE cadres.
A group of Sri Lankan MPs belonging to 'Tamil Desiya Kuttamipu Parliamentary Group' called on Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at his residence the other day and sought support for the cause of Tamils living in Sri Lanka. The rehabilitation process calls for international humanitarian assistance on a massive scale and India being the biggest stakeholder has to show the way to the world.
Source: India Syndicate
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3037272&ucpg=2
Many question marks over Prabhakaran's death
Here is the sequence of reports about Prabhakaran's death which emanated from Sri Lankan government and other sources:
May 18: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announces that Prabhakaran had been killed while trying to escape advancing Sri Lanka Army troops.
May 19: Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry announces that a body found by the shore of Nandikadal Lagoon has been identified as that of Prabhakaran. The body was later shown on Sri Lankan media. Rajapaksa makes no mention of Prabhakaran's death in his address to Sri Lankan Parliament. UK-based Tamil Tiger spokesperson Selvarasa Pathmanathan claims that Prabhakaran was still alive and safe.
May 25: LTTE confirms Prabhakaran's death
May 29: A DNA test confirms Prabhakaran's and his son Charles Anthony's deaths.
The reported recovery of Prabhakaran's body raised more questions than it answered. How exactly was Prabhakaran killed and why was the body found in a no-fire zone, when the army claimed they had trapped him in a 300 square meter area? Was he alive when the military found him, or had the leader of the Tamil rebels killed himself before they got to him?
Why would the most hunted man in Sri Lanka dress in army camouflage and carry his ID papers on him? Why did it take 11 days to get a DNA confirmation of Prabhakaran's death?
Was the announcement about recovery of Prabhakaran's body timed to complete the election process in India?
The last phase of elections in India took place on May 13, 2009, and the results were out on May 16. Tamil Nadu which was most sensitive about the Sri Lankan Tamil issue went to the polls on May 13. There were many Prabhakaran sympathisers among Tamil Nadu politicians of all hues. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidh went on a brief fast to empathise with Sri lankan Tamils. There was a DMK-sponsored Tamil Nadu bandh over the killings of Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan Army. AIADMK leader Jayalalitaa openly advocated creation of a Tamil Eelam. MDMK leader Vaiko had warned of a `bloodbath' if Prabhakaran was harmed. If the reports of Prabhakaran's murder had come before May 13, it would have radically changed the Tamil Nadu pollscape. TheDMK-Congress ties would have come under severe strain. Jayalalitaa would have taken electoral advantage of the situation.
Did Rajapaksa offer a quid pro quo to UPA?
There is hush hush talk in political circles that the then Congress dispensation had prevailed upon Rajapaksa about the serious impact Prabhakaran's death could make on elections in India, particularly on the fortunes of the Congress party which was dependent on DMK for forming its next government at the Centre. Rajapaksa knows that his fight to finish the LTTE would not have been such a signal success but for the helping hand extended by Indian Navy by way of effective coastal surveillance which blocked LTTE's escape routes by sea. So, was the timing of the announcement about Prabhakaran's death a quid pro quo for the support extended by the Congress-led Indian government to the war against LTTE?
Rehabilitation of Tamils a big challenge
Now that Prabhakaran is gone and a new government is in place in India, the rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils is the major challenge for the two countries. The post-conflict scenario calls for rehabilitation, reconciliation and resettlement as well as empowering of the affected people. The Sri Lankan government has said that it is currently addressing the requirements of about 300,000 internally displaced persons and conducting extensive rehabilitation programmes for about 8,000 former LTTE cadres.
A group of Sri Lankan MPs belonging to 'Tamil Desiya Kuttamipu Parliamentary Group' called on Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at his residence the other day and sought support for the cause of Tamils living in Sri Lanka. The rehabilitation process calls for international humanitarian assistance on a massive scale and India being the biggest stakeholder has to show the way to the world.
Source: India Syndicate
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3037272&ucpg=2
)
