Sathasivam Krishnakumar was interviewed by the British Refugee Council
publication, the Sri Lanka Monitor in April 1991 in London:
"In his time, Sathasivam Krishnakumar
alias Kittu, leader of the LTTE's International Wing in London, has fought on
many fronts. A former military commander of Jaffna, he lost a leg in a bomb
blast and was imprisoned in Madras while negotiating for the withdrawal of
Indian troops from Sri Lanka.
Now he says India as the regional power can bring about a settlement between
the Tigers and Colombo by acting as a mediator rather than as a negotiator.
Mr.Premadasa's three preconditions for peace are impossible. Disarmament is
especially impossible. The Tamils, if not the Tigers, require a protective
mechanism if they are not to be cheated in the future as they have been in the
past by successive Sinhala governments, he says.
A solution under Sri Lanka's unitary constitution is also a non starter and
Mr.Premadasa's invitation to participate in Provincial Councils, he regards as
derisory. The Tigers currently favour the associative structure mooted by
European Community states which preserves their sovereignty and cultural
distinctiveness. Which demands perhaps a de facto ceding of sovereignty by the
Sri Lankan government or Eelam by any other name? He smiles.
"The European states who participate in the European Community are not
prepared to give up their right to self determination. Neither are we.
Self determination is not a dirty word, it is an inalienable right".
Are these preconditions or prerequisites? "We also want peace", says Kittu,
"but we are not ready to give up our rights for that peace." Speaking in
Batticaloa in February, Mr.Premadasa promised the Tamils ellam (everything) in
place of Eelam. He should now say what that everything will be. (Courtesy Sri
Lanka Monitor, April 1991)
