Civil War Ends in Sri Lanka

The statement by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on May 17, 2009 that the group has decided to “silence it’s guns” means an end of the bitter civil war that had ravaged Sri Lanka’s north and east for the past 26 years and left thousands dead. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse announced that the LTTE has been militarily defeated. Successive heads of state and government had been promising to defeat the LTTE but had failed. President Rajapakse has succeeded by resorting to unalloyed military solution.

Prabhakaran Killed
Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was on May 18, 2009 shot dead by Sri Lankan special forces as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the army encirclement. Prabhakaran and his top aides came out of their last hiding place in a small convoy of van and an ambulance and tried to drive out of the war zone, but were gunned down.

The Tiger chief was killed with two others, who are yet to be identified but believed to be his closest associates LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tigers' chief Soosoi. The deaths of the top LTTE leaders came a day after Tamil Tigers conceded defeat saying the decades-old battle has reached its "bitter end" and they have decided to "silence" their guns.


This man was a monster; his death deserves no tears. Prabhakaran betrayed India repeatedly, masterminding the murder of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. In Sri Lanka, he brutalised civil society, unleashing terrorism that killed countless innocent people, including the cream of an entire generation of Sri Lankan politicians. Many of these were Sinhalese. Some of them, however, were also from non-LTTE Tamil groups, destroyed by a maniacal overlord who brooked no dissent and wanted to be supreme commander of his fantasy realm: Tamil Eelam.

Though die-hard supporters of the eelam (freedom) cause are bound to rue the fall of Prabhakaran whose commitment to it was unswerving, there is understandable jubilation in Sri Lanka which bore the brunt of a civil war that took 70,000 lives, including those of several top national leaders, and shattered the economy of the beleaguered country.

Revival of Economy
The cataclysmic end to the war came after the Government rejected calls for a new truce to protect civilians, and the Tigers refused to surrender and free 50,000-100,000 the United Nations and others said they were holding as human shields.

Sri Lanka's $40 billion economy is struggling with depleted foreign exchange reserves, shrinking export revenues for tea and garments, rising import costs, a declining rupee currency and a balance of payments crisis.

Rajapaksa's Government is counting on victory in the war to help boost the economy and renew economic growth that for years had been among the highest in south Asia.

The Tigers have warned that their conventional defeat will usher in a new phase of guerrilla conflict targeting Sri Lanka's economically valuable targets, an indirect threat to a tourism sector the government hopes can be boosted after the war.

The Road Ahead
The Sri Lankan Government must reach out specifically to the Tamils. In the past, it alienated many Tamils through its obsession with the war. Now is the time to move away from capturing Tiger-controlled territory to capturing the hearts and minds of the Tamil people. The stringent security conditions must be gradually relaxed. Those detained without trial or charges being filed must be released. Security measures like checks and searches must be relaxed in a phased-out manner.A special financial package is necessary to help the people of the North and East re-construct and develop their battered economy and shattered lives.

It goes without saying that President Rajapakse must quickly follow up on military success with political reconciliation. Institutionalising a system that allows the Tamil minority of Sri Lanka a certain degree of autonomy and guarantees their rights as equal citizens of the country is necessary. While the LTTE’s extremes can never be justified, it must be pointed out the Tamil movement did not happen in a vacuum. Radical Sinhalese politicians did play a role in trying to undermine Tamil political and economic rights, the minority community’s access to its own language as well as to Government jobs. Rajapaksa has promised all that is in the past. He says he is quite willing to write a new chapter and move ahead in a spirit of national togetherness.

With three high profile assassinations — Rajiv Gandhi, Sri Lankan President Premadasa and Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar — and more than 90,000 casualties, the LTTE has claimed far more victims than Islamic jihad. That it has been able to militarily fight back the Sri Lankan Army for all these years only proves how dangerously battle-efficient the LTTE had become. Perhaps it required the determination of a Rajapakse to take the offensive deep into Tiger territory and finish the war once and for all.

This is not a time for euphoria. It is a time to re-build the nation and to heal old wounds. A spirit of reconciliation after the victory can over a period of time lead to harmony and peace in the nation that it has not seen for years.

Chronology of Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis
1972: Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka and Buddhism given primary place as country's religion, which further antagonised the ethnic Tamil minorities, who already felt that they are being marginalised.

1975: Velupillai Prabhakaran forms Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

1977: Tamil United Liberation Front, a separatist party, wins all seats in the Tamil-dominated areas in Sri Lanka's north-east. Anti-Tamil riots leave more than 100 Tamils dead.

1981: Public library in Jaffna, cultural capital of the Sri Lankan Tamils, set on fire which caused further resentment among the Tamil community.

1983: 13 soldiers killed in LTTE ambush, sparking anti-Tamil riots across the north-east leading to the deaths of several hundred community members.

1985: First peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and LTTE fails.

1987: Sri Lankan troops push LTTE back into northern city of Jaffna. Government signs accords creating new councils for Tamil areas in north and east and reaches agreement with India on deployment of Indian peace-keeping force.

1990: IPKF leaves Sri Lanka. Violence between Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers escalates.

1991: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi killed in a suicide attack near Chennai. LTTE accused of carrying out the killing.

1993: LTTE suicide bomber kills Sri Lankan President Premadasa.

1994: Chandrika Kumaratunga comes to power. Opens talks with the LTTE.

2002: Sri Lanka and LTTE sign a ceasefire agreement brokered by Norway.

2004: Tamil Tiger commander Karuna leads split in rebel movement and goes underground with his supporters.

2005: Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar killed by LTTE sniper.

January, 2008: Government abrogates the ceasefire.

July, 2008: Sri Lankan military says it has captured the important Tamil Tiger naval base of Vidattaltivu in the north.

January, 2009: Troops capture Tigers de-facto capital of Kilinochchi.

April, 2009: Troops capture the last town held by LTTE in th Mullaittivu district.

May 16, 2009: President Mahinda Rajapaksa announces that the LTTe has been militarily defeated.

May 17, 2009: LTTE concedes defeat.

May 18, 2009: Seven top rebel leaders, including Charles Anthony, son of Prabhakaran killed.