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LTTE hand suspected in EPRLF leader's killing

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO JUNE 14. The killing of Subathiran, de-facto leader of a faction of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), has come as a shock to several Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders, who see the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's hand behind the assassination.

The assassination revived memories of the fierce inter-group killings that marked the early days of Tamil militancy and the rise of the LTTE.

Political analysts read today's killing as reprisal on whistle-blowers, as well as setting in motion the elimination of rivals by the Tigers before they commence another endgame towards the Jaffna peninsula, as well. "This is a clear and ominous signal aimed at those in other groups working in Jaffna and resisting the LTTE," an analyst said. Subathiran (a.k.a. Robert) joined the EPRLF in 1983 and was one of the rapidly-depleting "old guard" of Sri Lankan Tamil militancy to continue in active politics. As a one-time military leader of the EPRLF in Jaffna, `Robert' is the senior-most leader to be killed since the EPRLF founder, Padhmanabha, fell to a hail of LTTE bullets on June 19, 1990 in Chennai.

Among the scenarios ahead, one possibility is a swift advance towards Jaffna. According to political observers, "having come out of the process, it is not in the character of the LTTE to allow the process to go on''.

Observers see a "possibly Intifada-type public protests" in Jaffna, followed by a "swift operation", even with its existing artillery pieces and the reported infiltration of about hundreds of cadres in the north.

"Having silenced the people with the power of the gun, if there are leaders with alternative views, their sole representative status will be challenged," Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), said. "If other leaders are eliminated, the Tigers can automatically claim the sole representative status, when they deal with either national or international players at a future date," he said.

Condemning the killing, Kethish Loganathan, Director of the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives, and an EPRLF member till 1995, said: "The cycle of blood-letting and fratricidal conflict cannot continue. The use of force by the LTTE to annihilate alternative Tamil leaderships will only weaken the Tamil interest''.

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