Rajiva Wijesinha

“ The bottom line in that case was that the Tigers were determined to establish a totalitarian regime, as the assassination of Mr. Subathiran made clear. He was a relation of sorts, and I realized then how many Tamil politicians had lost relations, not so much to the Sri Lankan army or the Indian, as to the LTTE. I was told that Mr. Anandasagaree for instance has lost a couple of nephews, and in such a context it is understandable that he and the LTTE should part company once the incompatibility of their priorities became clear.
Should Ranil then start preparing for war? ”

“ The Tiger position is that, given the staggering incompetence, if not always dishonesty, of the majority of Ranil's minions, only they can solve the problem. Ranil's problem is that Tiger control of rehabilitation means Tiger domination with regard to weapons, manpower, terrain and public sympathy. There are those who argue that that would not be a bad thing, but even they are thrown off balance by the single-minded Tiger determination to eliminate all opposition. ”

“ So the chances are that, given his incapacity to find efficient people to develop the North East, given his pathological incapacity to compromise with the President, when he next puts forward proposals for an interim administration, he will grant the Tigers much of what they want. Not absolutely everything, since I believe the man does have at least some self respect left. But since compromise with Tigers is preferable to dealing disingenuously with the President, the Tigers will find that their intransigence has paid off. ”

“ As they would have known all along. After all, having studied Sri Lankan army dispositions so carefully for so long, there is little doubt that they would also have studied the psychology of our revered leaders. ”