Thursday, June 30, 2005
More Killings |
Trouble trouble trouble has been brewing in Sri Lanka for the past few days. With all this talk of war and such, today's assassination of 3 Sri Lanka Army people in Urani is not good.
Yaaro says that there's nothing to point out that the LTTE did it, or had any hand in it, and that even if it was the LTTE, then the leadership had nothing to do with ordering the attack.
I would like to disagree with that to a certain extent. In the same way that the S P Thamilchelvan, the Leader of the LTTE's political wing says that the attack on the LTTE convoy in Welikanda could not have been carried out without the knowledge or support of the Sri Lanka Army, an attack as such that occured in Urani today could not be carried out without the knowledge or support of the LTTE. Well, maybe it could have not had any LTTE involvement if it had been someone in the Army who had a score to settle if one of the people who was killed, but that seems unlikely.
Now let me dig an old grave to make my point.
Can you remember that time Kaushalyan (former LTTE leader for the East) was killed? (again in Welikanda). The LTTE said it could not have been done without the knowledge and the help of the Sri Lanka army. What about those rumors that it might have been LTTE leader Prabhakaran who had Kaushalyan killed because Kaushalyan was becoming too popular with the people of the East? Everyone knew Kaushalyan was an accomplished and respected person. Even the few Tamil people on the East coast who did not agree with the LTTE's politics or methods, often said that Kaushalyan was someone they felt they could have a discussion with. This was something we heard again and again from the East. Kaushalyan saw his popularity rise to unprecedented levels in the post-Tsunami period, and there are many who believe that this would have been enough to trigger off a few alarms in Mullaitivu. So there is enough to build a case to say Prabhakaran had Kaushalyan killed.
In the same way, Maj. Muthalif (Army Intelligence) who was killed in Colombo could have been killed by the Sri Lanka Army themselves. There are certain things about the case that jump out at you. Where were his bodyguards who were supposed to have been supplied by the Army? Why aren't the police really digging the case? The media buzzed for a few days that Maj. Muthalif had been working on something that was out of the Government's line, and that this is why they needed him out of the way. This case seems to have died a premature death because no one seems to want it dug up and unravelled.
Another interesting things that not many people have noticed is how many intelligence people have been killed after the ceasefire. Now don't jump up and down thinking I'm only talking about the Sri Lanka Army's list of their people who have been killed, it's accepted that several LTTE intelligence operatives have been killed in various parts of the island, including 2 in Colombo a few weeks ago. Could it be that the Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE have traded lists of intelligence operatives? How else could both groups so systematically (albeit tactlessly) kill of each othere's intell people? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but why is this so hard to believe? We know someone inside the Army burned the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) project which the Army was running to hit strategic targets deep inside LTTE areas. That was clearly the Military purging it's own ranks. In the same was the Government saw the DPU's usefulness end and sold them out, the LTTE no longer needs the services of all the proxies who ran information for them in Government areas.
Anyways, my point is that in the present situation, when we are in a low-intensity conflict that frequently flares up, there's really no telling who's killing who. There could be a million theories and all of them could be wrong. Both Tamilnet and the Army's Brig. Dayarathne can say the LTTE did it or the Army did it, but their words have lost weight. No one gives a damn about what they say anymore.
And as for the general public, if an LTTE guys gets killed, then the Army did it. If an Army guy gets killed, then the LTTE did it.
When will people realise that this is not so black and white?
Yaaro says that there's nothing to point out that the LTTE did it, or had any hand in it, and that even if it was the LTTE, then the leadership had nothing to do with ordering the attack.
I would like to disagree with that to a certain extent. In the same way that the S P Thamilchelvan, the Leader of the LTTE's political wing says that the attack on the LTTE convoy in Welikanda could not have been carried out without the knowledge or support of the Sri Lanka Army, an attack as such that occured in Urani today could not be carried out without the knowledge or support of the LTTE. Well, maybe it could have not had any LTTE involvement if it had been someone in the Army who had a score to settle if one of the people who was killed, but that seems unlikely.
Now let me dig an old grave to make my point.
Can you remember that time Kaushalyan (former LTTE leader for the East) was killed? (again in Welikanda). The LTTE said it could not have been done without the knowledge and the help of the Sri Lanka army. What about those rumors that it might have been LTTE leader Prabhakaran who had Kaushalyan killed because Kaushalyan was becoming too popular with the people of the East? Everyone knew Kaushalyan was an accomplished and respected person. Even the few Tamil people on the East coast who did not agree with the LTTE's politics or methods, often said that Kaushalyan was someone they felt they could have a discussion with. This was something we heard again and again from the East. Kaushalyan saw his popularity rise to unprecedented levels in the post-Tsunami period, and there are many who believe that this would have been enough to trigger off a few alarms in Mullaitivu. So there is enough to build a case to say Prabhakaran had Kaushalyan killed.
In the same way, Maj. Muthalif (Army Intelligence) who was killed in Colombo could have been killed by the Sri Lanka Army themselves. There are certain things about the case that jump out at you. Where were his bodyguards who were supposed to have been supplied by the Army? Why aren't the police really digging the case? The media buzzed for a few days that Maj. Muthalif had been working on something that was out of the Government's line, and that this is why they needed him out of the way. This case seems to have died a premature death because no one seems to want it dug up and unravelled.
Another interesting things that not many people have noticed is how many intelligence people have been killed after the ceasefire. Now don't jump up and down thinking I'm only talking about the Sri Lanka Army's list of their people who have been killed, it's accepted that several LTTE intelligence operatives have been killed in various parts of the island, including 2 in Colombo a few weeks ago. Could it be that the Sri Lanka Army and the LTTE have traded lists of intelligence operatives? How else could both groups so systematically (albeit tactlessly) kill of each othere's intell people? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but why is this so hard to believe? We know someone inside the Army burned the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) project which the Army was running to hit strategic targets deep inside LTTE areas. That was clearly the Military purging it's own ranks. In the same was the Government saw the DPU's usefulness end and sold them out, the LTTE no longer needs the services of all the proxies who ran information for them in Government areas.
Anyways, my point is that in the present situation, when we are in a low-intensity conflict that frequently flares up, there's really no telling who's killing who. There could be a million theories and all of them could be wrong. Both Tamilnet and the Army's Brig. Dayarathne can say the LTTE did it or the Army did it, but their words have lost weight. No one gives a damn about what they say anymore.
And as for the general public, if an LTTE guys gets killed, then the Army did it. If an Army guy gets killed, then the LTTE did it.
When will people realise that this is not so black and white?
