Sri Lanka: Specter of violence

There are fears in Sri Lanka that the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are backtracking on an earlier agreement to drop their demand for a separate state, and to settle instead for regional autonomy. LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham, whose remarks from an unpublished book were posted on a website, has said that if Tamil demands for self-rule were rejected, outright secession would be on the cards.

The LTTE, which unilaterally suspended the Norwegian-brokered peace talks last year because of the government's opposition to its call for interim self-rule before a final settlement, has much to worry about. It is quite possible that Mr Balasingham's strident tone is a desperate attempt to remind the government that the organization is still capable of causing trouble if its demands are not met.

Indeed, the LTTE which has refrained from large-scale violence after a 2002 truce, has shifted focus and has been training its guns on renegade elements, notably those under Colonel Karuna, a former LTTE commander, who recently formed a political party, thus weakening the militants' support base. The LTTE is also unhappy over a defense deal, yet to be signed, between Sri Lanka and India. Given this scenario, the LTTE would do well to give the green signal for talks to reopen.

It owes as much to the nation's war-weary people who have lived through two decades of bloodshed that has killed 65,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. A separate state should be out of the question as the Tamils form only 18 percent of the population -- as opposed to 74 percent Sinhalese -- and there are many Tamils who do not support LTTE demands, and want normality to be restored to the island as soon as possible. -- The Dawn, Karachi