OP-ED: LTTE reborn – Fact, falsehood or fantasy?

Intelligence head and Defence Secretary in contradictory stand over LTTE regrouping

( January 18, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A Sunday newspaper published in Colombo quoted the Director of the National Intelligence Service, retired Major General Kapila Hendawitharana as saying that there are possibilities of LTTE re-grouping- the movement that has been militarily eliminated by the government forces in May 2009.

The statement has been refuted by the Maj. Gen. in an interview to the Zurich based Tamil web Ilankai Net. He denied that he had made any such comment to the said Sunday newspaper and also expressed his disappointment. ‘Please do not quote my name but you can report that I never made such statement that the LTTE is to regroup again in North and the East. There is no possibilities for that whatsoever’.

Maj. Gen., who is one of the core members who established the present defence establishment in Sri Lanka and that extended its activities within the Sri Lankan diaspora, is of the strong view that there are no possibilities of the LTTE regrouping.

The matter came in to the centre stage again when the Defence Secretary asserted that the LTTE’s re-emergence at a seminar oraganised by the Sri Lanka Foundation recently. In that seminar, the Secretary of Defence said there are possibilities of Tamil Tiger regrouping.

This conflicting views of the top defence heads appears to be the conduct of the government to bring about false and hyphened creative stories. First claim was secretly denied and now the Defence Secretary is asserting very same false story denied by his subordinate.

The Minister of Higher Education visited the University of Jaffna where he attended a meeting with one of the ruling party Minister and officials of the University. In the meeting he told the ex-LTTE cadres are engaging with the student moment to start a arms struggle again.

These hyphened speculative rants are none other than prop ups to sustain and extend the military presence in the north, the very effort has come under heavy criticism.