Clear-cut Military Defeat

The Sri Lankan army’s announced defeat of the LTTE separatist group yesterday and the killing of its entire top leadership effectively puts an end to the quarter century long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. N. Ram, Communist Party member and editor-in-chief of ‘The Hindu’ (South Indian newspaper) writes in today’s lead editorial, “It might have been very different had an organization (LTTE) that started out in the 1970’s with some kind of emancipatory political vision and even idealism not turned Pol Potist in its extremism, cruelty, and horrific disregard for human life and welfare.” Today there is celebration on the streets of Colombo.

B. Raman of the ‘Institute for Topical Studies’, Chennai, however, counsels caution. Rust never sleeps. In today’s world of journalistic activism it is always possible to re-constitute the defeated in conjunction with mocking and/or holding the victor to account for collateral damage. Already there are protesters on the streets in Europe and elsewhere wearing t-shirts bearing the likeness of Velupillai Prabakaran, demanding ‘justice’. This should suffice to re-inflame the passions of surviving separatists (and their allies in Tamil Nadu) who might be delusional enough to deny the reality of a clear-cut military defeat.