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One of South Asia’s most influential dailies, the Hindu said in an editorial analyzing the Tamil Tiger negotiator’s statement at the conclusion of the first session of direct talks between the rebels and the Colombo government that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had not ruled out separation. The Chennai Tamil Nadu of India based daily in its leader, September 20, 2002 said his statement about a homeland would appear to contain the seeds of yet to be abandoned plan to divide the island nation of Sri Lanka. The Hindu warned, “The announcement by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that it was ready to accept “autonomy and self-governance” in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka and that it would consider separation only as a “last resort” needs to be assessed with caution.” The Tamil Nadu based Hindu charged, “The announcements and the elaborations on the same by the LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham, leave too many questions unanswered. Commenting further on the talks, which the Sri Lanka government has dubbed “Peace Talks”, the Hindu said, “Most pertinently the two sides, assisted by the Norwegian facilitators, have not thus far got down to discussing the core issues especially in regard to the tricky question of the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces. Neither have the two sides resolved the issue of an interim administration and its control and dwelt on the more sensitive point of disarming the LTTE cadres.” The Hindu strongly stated, “ In a context where the LTTE has not ruled out separation –whether as a last resort or otherwise –categorically the talk about a “homeland” would appear to contain the seeds of a yet to be abandoned plan to divide the island.” The Hindu also said skepticism about LTTE’s intentions also arose from ambiguity in Mr. Balasingham’s comments on the LTTE’s search for international legitimacy. Charging Anton Balasingham for his “amazing” bold statement without shame that it has taken over the administration of the area assuming the status of a “permanent administration” even before it has been taken that up for discussions at the talks the editorial said the organization was now seeking an international recognition for it. The Hindu warned the world of according of legitimacy to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and said, “what has all along been a terrorist organization is a matter that has to be seriously thought through” The Hindu also attacked the Behari Vajpayee government of India for allowing the focus of the LTTE as a terrorist outfit gets clouded. The newspaper categorically said, “New Delhi cannot afford to let down its guard or forget the damage that the LTTE has caused to India as well as Sri Lanka. As Sri Lanka’s neighbour, India does need to keep in close touch with the negotiations but New Delhi cannot on any accounts allow for its demands for the extradition of the LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran to be diluted or set aside for the momentary convenience of the establishment in Colombo.” Reminding that the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga offered substantive autonomy to the Tamil Tigers in a speech delivered August 3 1995 that proposed devolutionary powers which would have allowed people in all regions to control their own lives the Hindu editorial said the LTTE totally rejected it. In that context , the editorial said , “it is difficult to appreciate what more the Sri Lankan government can now offer to persuade this organization to accept a settlement short of one that effectively divides the country.” (EOM) (02/09/20 go2lanka.com) |