Debacle for LTTE

While the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has undeniably dealt a severe blow to the LTTE with the capture of the latter���s de facto capital, Kilinochchi, the resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka is far from over. Indeed, with this military victory, the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime is in danger of letting triumphalism further harden the Sinhala majoritarianism that is equally part of the problem. It is nobody���s case that the LTTE is not a murderous organisation, fascistic not just in its structure but in that it has systematically and ruthlessly eliminated all possible rival Tamil leadership.

Yet, it is also undeniable that Sri Lanka has been a communal majoritarian state, and a chauvinistic notion of the island as a ���Sinhala nation��� has been sought to be imposed on the minorities. The state has consistently failed to recognise and accommodate the multi-ethnic nature of its polity. The disempowerment of the minorities, including Tamils, is stark. Colombo has always been unable to accept minority demands for sharing state power. And under Rajapaksa, Sinhala majoritarianism has further been enshrined, with the army fighting as a Sinhala force. Indeed, there has been a total unwillingness to seek a political solution. And with LTTE intransigence, the military solution was seen as the only viable one.

However, the greater task would begin now. Colombo must be able to envisage and implement a devolution of power to the minorities. The LTTE, now confined to the Mullaithivu jungles, could very easily revert back to guerrilla warfare and strike across the island. The humanitarian crisis too is immense, and Colombo has shown little inclination so far to take responsibility for the hundreds of thousands displaced by the war.

It will also be no easy task to politically govern a people who suffered long years of war, including recent bombing campaigns. The ���ethnic conflict��� will not end with this severe military setback for the LTTE. For its part, India must use what influence it has to press upon Colombo that a permanent solution can only be had with an inclusive distribution of state power that ensures inclusion of the ethnic minorities.