The fall of Kilinochchi

Is there a military solution in Sri Lanka


As a journalist, visiting Kilinochchi was always a very interesting experience. Kilinochchi, the headquarters of the Tamil Tigers' defacto state "Tamil Eelam".

It had all the trapping of a state...shown with much pride to visiting foreign scribes.





1.The author gets help strapping on a visor before filming at a minefield in rebel held north Sri Lanka 2006








2. A Sri Lankan Soldier near the CFL 2006




3.The author at the LTTE's media center in Kilinochchi in 2006


A police force with NYPD style patrol cars, crime investigation, traffic and law and order wings. The "Tamil Eelam" police Headquarters had an impressive building housed in a walled compound overlooking the main road. A "Tamil Eelam" flag was ceremoniously hoisted in the morning and lowered in the evening at the parade ground within the compound.

" Our policemen and women do not wear the Khaki uniform you see in the rest of the Indian subcontinent. It is something our leader ( Velupillai Prabhakaran) ordered. The Khaki uniform is seen as part of the repressive regime that the Tamil people here have grown to hate. So when we set up our police force for our people, we decided to go with blue and white the colour of peace.
The policemen here would think twice before asking for bribes or tormenting the people they are hired to serve. The punishment for that is just too severe." the then Tamil Eelam police chief B Nadesan had told me during one of my visits.

There was also a well oiled system to collect taxes from traders and visitors. I saw every shop and eatery maintain meticulous records of every sale. Accounts where maintained by hand with a column for the amount that was to be shares with the Tigers. No one dared think about ducking taxes.

The "Tamil Eelam Bank" did everything short of printing its own currency. It gave loans, fixed interest rates and was the place people thronged to pawn gold. The branches had computers, although they where there mostly for show. Most of the work was done on hand written ledgers.
Many people did maintain small savings accounts with the bank...this was required to avail loans and other services.

I was told that there was an executive council led by V Prabhakaran that made laws. Laws that where published as bare acts... text books for the Kilinochchi's law school run by the Tigers.

This was never a democratically elected council and most of the members came from the military side of the organisation. Most where appointed by Prabhakaran.

Most of the laws in "Tamil Eelam" where based on British and Indian laws, especially the civil and criminal procedure codes.

Law graduates practiced in the lower courts and the "Supreme Court of Tamil Eelam". Many from their ranks gave exams and became judges.

All courts where housed next to each other in Kilinochchi.

Sri Lankan officials and other experts often dismissed these courts as "Kangaroo courts" but each of these would hear dozens of civil and criminal cases every day.

And then there where the rebel run television and FM radio station. These mostly played patriotic songs and videos. The television station " National Television of Tamil Eelam ( NTT) was at one point broadcast from an earth station inside rebel held territory to most of Asia and Europe through a network of "Ecostar" satellites.

The channel had regular news bulletins that had the look and feel of a state run station.

The radio station too was used mostly for propaganda. It's content too was very "state radio" type.

But the pride and joy of the Tigers was their fighting machinery. One of the very few non-state entities in the world to have land, sea and air wings. This was something most within the organisation thought gave them the legitimacy of "state".

The Peace secretariat served as the "foreign office". Hosting foreign diplomats and ministers who came calling during the ceasefire years. The perfect setting for meetings and photo opportunities. A place where even V Prabhakaran showed up often in the early days of the last ceasefire with the poise of a "Head of state"

But with the fall of Kilinochchi, the edifice of state that the tigers had created in their territory is in shambles.

Weeks of air strikes and shelling had left the buildings that housed each of these "institutions" in ruin.

But does the fall of Kilinochchi mean an end to the 25 year old civil war in Sri Lanka that has left over 80,000 people dead ?

Is there a military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka ?

The fall of Kilinochchi is a big psychological blow to the Tigers and it is clear that the rebels who controlled vast tracts of territory in the east and north of Sri Lanka are now left with just a fraction.

However, the core issues in the conflict still remain unresolved. Many experts in India say a military solution, of the kind sought by the current government in Sri Lanka is not a permanent solution.

Any bid now to prop an alternate civilian administration in the North without the participation of the tigers could be counter productive in the long term.

Many experts say what is needed is a negotiated settlement... a political solution that will bring about a more permanent resolution of the 25 year old conflict.

Many experts argue there are merits in involving the Tigers in future negotiations.

But for now both sides are far from finding common ground on unconditionally restarting stalled talks.

The suicide attack outside the Sri Lanka Air Force HQ at Colombo amidst celebrations to mark the fall of Kilinochchi is an ominous sign.

( Photo credit : 1 and 3 Nilanjan Chowdhury, 3 Rajesh Sundaram)