'Today, our liberation is facing a new historical turning point.
We have successfully foiled the
Indian
military intervention. Now, the Indian occupation forces have completely
withdrawn from our homeland. The termination of the Indian intervention is a
grand victory for our struggle. The Indian forces were sent here specifically to
crush our liberation struggle and to annihilate our organisation which embodied
the spirit of the struggle. It is for this specific reason, India unleashed a
full-fledged war against us.
This war is a monumental event in the history of the world. For more than two
years, we fought a ruthless war shedding our blood against a formidable military
force, against a mighty power in Asia. The supreme sacrifice made by our
fighters and by our people in this armed conflict hex become a historical epic
of heroism and courage. Our victory in this war has set an excellent example
that the legitimate struggle of an oppressed people and their yearning for
freedom could not be crushed by military force however formidable it may
Our people have also learned a bitter lesson as a consequence of the Indian
military intervention and the colossal damage it brought about. We have learned
that we have to be self dependent and fight our own struggle to win our rights
rather than depending on foreign powers. I am sure that all the Tamil groups who
supported the Indian intervention would have realised this political truth.
We are not a hostile force to the Indian or to to Indian people. We opposed
the misguided policies of the former Indian administration and resisted the
military intervention. We do not want the Government of India to interfere
politically or militarily in our problems. The policy makers in Delhi should
realise that
the legitimate struggle of our oppressed people will not in anyway contravene
the geo-political concerns of India nor will it undermine the internal
stability of the Indian state. We fervently hope that on the basis of this
understanding the new Indian administration would make sincere efforts to
restore friendly ties with our organisation. We desire the Indian government and
the people of India should support and recognise the legitimate struggle of our
people.
For nearly an year we have been involved in
peace talks with the Government of Sri Lanka. I am very pleased to note that
the talks have been cordial. constructive and have progressed on the basis of
mutual trust and understanding. As a direct consequence of these talks there is
peace and normalcy. The present Sri Lankan regime seems to have realised that
racist oppression and military suppression will not befog about a resolution to
the problems of the Tamil speaking people. I should say that the courageous and
the radical approach enunciated by President Premadasa has resulted in the
present climate of peace and conciliation.
We sincerely desire that the present atmosphere of peace should continue and
that our people should live a life of freedom, dignity and security. The future
depends solely on the perceptions and approaches of the Sinhala political
leaders and the Sinhala masses. The Sinhalese people should realise
the blunders of the past and the
historical injustices done to our people and should be prepared to resolve
our problems on the basis of human justice and righteousness (Dharma) If. on the
other hand, justice is denied to our people and if oppression is unlashed
against our people, we will not hesitate to resume the armed struggle to uphold
the freedom of our people.
For a long time we have been fighting an armed struggle to advance the
cause of our people. But the forms of our struggle changed in accordance with
the concrete conditions and historical compulsions. Such changes in the
modalities of our struggle is inevitable. Now we have decided to build up our
Party structure and to embrace democratic politics as the mode of our struggle.
We will expand our organisation into a mass movement and prove to the world that
the Liberation Tigers are the authentic representatives of our people.
We are not opposed to democratic norms and practices. We have been fighting
to secure the fundamental political liberties and democratic rights of our
people. Our political objective is to build a radical new society based on
social justice and democratic freedoms. Sri Lanka Government should eliminate
all oppressive conditions pitted against our people so that genuine democratic
traditions can be best enhanced in the political mainstream.
The Government of India imposed a stringent condition on us to surrender our
arms without offering us a substantial framework that would be a basis for a
permanent political settlement As a consequence a war broke out. Even though the
Government of India utilised all its military might against our movement, it
miserably failed in achieving its objective of disarming us.
It is a tragedy that the Government of India completely disregarded the
political aspirations, interests and security concerns of our people who have
suffered long years of
genocidal oppression but was primarily concerned about our arms' which
constituted the shield of security of our people. This was the Himalayan blunder
made by India and she has learned a bitter historical lesson for such a
misguided policy. We sincerely hope that Sri Lanka should not make such a
disastrous mistake.
There is peace and a cessation of hostilities between the Sri Lankan armed
forces and the LTTE fighters. But the fundamental problems of our people have
not been resolved. Our economy is in shambles. The towns and villages have been
reduced to graveyards as a consequence of prolonged wars. The conditions of
oppression perpetrated against our people have not been fully eradicated. The
wounds of state oppression have not been healed. Our people still live in fear
and trepidation over their security In these circumstances, I feel sad to note
that certain Sri Lankan newspapers are demanding that the LTTE should surrender
arms. Instead of demanding the surrender of arms. one should objectively study
and analyse as to why we took up arms and fought a protracted armed struggle for
more than fifteen years.
The Sinhala people should study and understand
the genesis of the armed struggle of the LTTE and the concrete historical
conditions that led to the growth and development of the armed resistance. We
wish to say that once concrete actions are taken to remove the causes and
conditions that led to Tamil resistance, then the question of arms will be
settled forever. It is a misconception to assume that the ethnic issue would be
resolved once the LTTE hands over its weapons.
It is the historical conditions of oppression which created the struggle for
liberation and the armed resistance became the revolutionary expression of that
struggle. The question of arms cannot be resolved unless the ethnic issue is
resolved amicably. I hope that the Sinhala people and the Sri Lanka Government
will understand our position.
Our movement will continue to struggle to secure for our people a life of
freedom. peace and a prosperous future. Our movement is the only light of hope
of our people. I call upon the Tamil and Muslim people to rally round our
movement to strengthen it into a powerful national force.
