Why The LTTE Was Defeated
Dr. Kumar David
It is natural that many reasons are ascribed for the defeat of the LTTE; none is exclusively true, they are interconnected and some more significant than others. After five years it is timely to invite Colombo Telegraph readers to separate the wheat from the chaff and enter into a thoughtful (not polemical) discussion so as to gain some maturity of perspective in these post-Geneva-2014 days.
Most oft proclaimed in the South is that a determination of leadership (funding, unflagging political support, military strategy, and resisting foreign pressure to compromise) decided the issue; but this is only partly true. A second argument, popular with Tamil liberals, is that the LTTE lost the moral high ground by espousing terrorism against Sinhalese civilians and Tamil leaders, and that internally it sank to the pits of internecine cannibalism.
A third theory loved of armchair historians is that the war was intrinsically unwinnable; 13% Tamils versus 75% Sinhalese; a non-state actor versus state power. Maybe, but the world has also seen counter examples. A fourth explanation advanced by Tamils with empathy for the LTTE is that it was let down by India and the international community (IC). The US and India even provided Colombo with military intelligence they moan. This is one aspect of a bigger story that I will discuss. Finally a fifth proposition, the one on which I place the most weight, is that the LTTE blundered politically; the other negatives flowed from this congenital malfunction. None of this is new, but what about ranking these factors; ranking their importance bearing in mind, their interconnectedness.
There are trivial ‘explanations’ too; Mahinda’s astrological conjunctions, Karunanidhi’s double dealing, diaspora infighting, treachery of the Dead Left, and the implacable resolve of Sinhala chauvinism. I prefer to put all this to one side as ‘also’ factors – except soothsaying which is hilarious bunkum. I make no further reference in this essay to these secondary factors.
