Beleaguered Tigers name new chief
By Sudha Ramachandran
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have a new chief. Its former head
of arms procurement, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, has been named as successor to the
slain Velupillai Prabhakaran, according to a statement issued by its Executive
Committee.
Fifty-four-year old Pathmanathan, aka Kumaran Pathmanathan or "KP", was serving
as the LTTE's chief of international relations before rising to the top post.
The Executive Committee has said he will lead the LTTE into the "next steps of
the freedom struggle". The announcement comes a little over two months after
Prabhakaran and his family - as well
as the entire LTTE top brass - were killed by the Sri Lankan army.
Prabhakaran's death and the military defeat of the LTTE plunged overseas Tigers
and the Tamil diaspora into a state of shock. They went into denial over the
death of their leader, as well as the LTTE's future. Sections within the LTTE
even claimed Prabhakaran was alive and would emerge "when the right time
comes".
Pathmanathan was among the earliest to admit the death of Prabhakaran, and he
came in for sharp criticism from the diaspora for doing so.
Pathmanathan has had a long association with the LTTE and Prabhakaran. He was a
close confidante of the Tiger leader and functioned as the chief of the LTTE's
arms procurement network. His first big arms purchase on behalf of the LTTE is
believed to have taken place back in 1984.
Within a couple of years he was buying ships, and helping to set up the LTTE's
shipping network. Besides arms and shipping, Pathmanathan also headed global
fundraising, handling the LTTE's overseas branches and front organizations. He
was the most powerful Tiger abroad.
Pathmanathan was a shadowy character. He went by several aliases and owned many
passports. This and his contacts with police and officials helped him slip
across borders with ease.
Pathmanathan's fortunes dipped in 2002, when reports of his mismanagement of
LTTE funds and sexual improprieties reached Prabhakaran's ears. He was eased
out of his position in the LTTE in the course of a restructuring the LTTE
underwent following a 2002 ceasefire. But he continued to advise the Tigers on
arms purchases.
Then in January this year, as the LTTE was battling to hold onto territory,
Prabhakaran appointed Pathmanathan as international relations chief.
In the months that followed, as the territory under LTTE control shrank rapidly
and its leaders and fighters were cornered in a narrow tract of land in the
north of the island, it was Pathmanathan who reached out to his contacts among
diplomats and intelligence officials to secure a ceasefire for the beleaguered
Tigers.
He did not succeed, with the Sri Lankan armed forces inflicting a crushing
defeat on the LTTE before his efforts could bear fruit.
As chief arms procurer for the LTTE, Pathmanathan was a success. As
international relations chief Pathmanathan's diplomacy failed to avert the
LTTE's annihilation. Now as the LTTE's chief, will Pathmanathan be able to
revive the organization?
Although Pathmanathan claims that the LTTE continues to have 1,500-2,000
fighters still in Sri Lanka, the LTTE as an organized fighting force is badly
battered. Reviving it will be difficult, although the LTTE does not lack the
money to supply fighters with weapons. The LTTE's international structures
continue to be formidable although they are weakened by ongoing factional
rivalries.
There is also doubt that the Tamil diaspora who funded the LTTE for decades
will be motivated to donate to a Pathmanathan-led LTTE.
As Pathmanathan steps into Prabhakaran's shoes, comparisons are inevitable.
Pathmanathan's skills lie in sealing arms deals and building a business empire.
Unlike his predecessor, Pathmanathan has no battlefield experience.
To outsiders, Prabhakaran was never seen as charismatic. He lacked the lean and
hungry appearance of a guerrilla fighter and looked more like a prosperous
businessman. However, within the LTTE Prabhakaran had a legendary reputation.
He was worshipped and often referred to as Surya Thevan (the Sun God), and his
cadres were willing to kill and die for him.
Pathmanathan is unlikely to be able to match that stature or command that level
of support. There are sections within the overseas Tigers that have been
bitterly opposed to his attempts to lead the LTTE in recent months. While he
has been able to rally enough support to have himself appointed Prabhakaran's
successor, the resistance to his rise hasn't evaporated.
For instance, Tamilnet, a website regarded as the LTTE's mouthpiece, carried
the announcement of the "Executive Committee", but has not welcomed
Pathmanathan's appointment as LTTE chief.
In a bid to seek legitimacy for Pathmanathan's anointment, the Executive
Committee has indicated that his rise in the LTTE hierarchy had the blessing of
Prabhakaran. Pathmanathan "had been appointed as Head of International
Relations by our National Leader" or Prabhakaran, the statement said.
What path the LTTE under Pathmanathan will take in the coming months will be
keenly watched in many countries. The LTTE Executive Committee statement said
the "ultimate goal of a free Tamil Eelam does not ever change".
Pathmanathan announced in June plans to set up a "provisional transnational
government of Tamil Eelam" that would "represent the political aspirations and
will be the voice and conscience of the people of Tamil Eelam in the
international arena".
As for his strategy to achieve this, he appears to be moving away from
Prabhakaran's path of armed struggle. Days after Prabhakaran's death,
Pathmanathan told the BBC in a telephone interview that the LTTE had "given up
violence" and would "enter the democratic process" to achieve
self-determination for Tamils.
Weeks later in an interview to the Indian news channel Headlines Today,
Pathmanathan said that the LTTE "was now moving forward towards a new path".
"Any political solution for the Tamil national question should be based on the
... recognition of Tamils as a nation," he said, adding that the Tigers would
"continue the fight through political means until these aspirations of the
Tamil people are realized".
"The decision of silencing our guns was taken by our leader [Prabhakaran]
before his death," Pathmanathan said in a bid to justify the shift away from
armed struggle.
Pathmanathan's apparent choice of political means over armed struggle has been
welcomed by some as a moderate approach adopted after a realistic assessment of
the LTTE's current capabilities. But his rivals in the LTTE and hardliners in
the Tamil diaspora are not happy with the shift.
Pathmanathan is a wanted man. He figures in Interpol's wanted list as
Shanmugham Kumaran Tharmalingam. The categories of offenses listed against him
are crimes against life and health, crimes involving the use of weapons,
explosives and terrorism.
He is also wanted in India and Sri Lanka. Recently, the Sri Lankan government
renewed its request to foreign governments to find and arrest him.
Pathmanathan's reported willingness to switch to political means hasn't
impressed Colombo and it is unlikely to soften its stance against him.
Prabhakaran's role in the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv
Gandhi in 1991, and the fact that the LTTE is a banned organization in India,
has made it difficult for New Delhi to engage politically with the Tigers for
the past 18 years. It did seem that New Delhi would be willing to deal with a
post-Prabhakaran LTTE if it renounced terrorism and violence.
Prabhakaran is now dead, and the post-Prabhakaran LTTE now says it is opting
for political means to achieve its goals. But as Pathmanathan is wanted in
India on charges of criminal conspiracy and violation of the Indian Explosives
Act - among other things - it will be difficult for India to engage him.
But it is not whether he will be acceptable to Colombo or New Delhi, or whether
they will engage in talks with him, that will be uppermost on Pathmanathan's
thoughts. It is his shaky position at the top of the LTTE.
Pathmanathan's biggest challenge is fighting off his rivals within the LTTE.
The latter are waging a concerted campaign to vilify him. At stake is not just
the title of LTTE chief, but also control of its financial empire.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore.
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