The Army: Under The PA Government
By Rajan Hoole –June 13, 2015
Dr. Rajan Hoole
The PA government led by Chandrika Kumaratunga was voted into power in August 1994 on a peace platform. Although the LTTE agreed to talk to the Government, to the more careful observer it had clearly signalled its long term intentions. This it did by using a suicide boat to sink the naval vessel Sagarawardene off Mannar in September 1994 and then killing the UNP presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake in a suicide attack in October 1994. A cease-fire came into force and the LTTE ended the cease-fire on 19th, April 1995 with a suicide attack sinking two anchored naval vessels in Trincomalee.
The Government had entered into peace talks with such optimism that it misjudged the LTTE and failed to come to grips with the military and political challenges ahead. As for the LTTE, it had attacked the Sagarawardene on 19th September 1994 after a cordial exchange of letters between President Kumaratunge and the LTTE leader, and talks had already been fixed for 13th October 1994. During the cease-fire the LTTE demanded the removal of the embargo on banned items to the North, removal of certain army camps and the lifting of the ban on fishing. The Government lifted the ban on fishing everywhere in the Jaffna peninsula except near Karainagar and KKS naval harbours. The LTTE remained insistent. The LTTE ended the cease- fire with a surprise attack on naval vessels anchored in Trincomalee. To many Tamil observers and residents in Jaffna, it had been clear from September 1994, that the LTTE’s main intention had been to cripple the Navy.
Observers in Jaffna opine that the renewal of war was timed to coincide with the LTTE’s acquisition of surface-to-air missiles. Two military flights were downed before April ended. Initially there was panic in Colombo. It was feared that the Government’s sprawling military base in Palaly, the naval base in Karainagar and the Elephant Pass camp would be cut off by land, sea and air. The Government was thus forced to take the entire Jaffna peninsula or pull out. The peninsula was brought under control by April 1996, and this was both a significant military and political gain for the Government (see The Jaffna Exodus, our Special Report No.6).