COLOMBO: The combat manpower of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was halved when the outfit’s Special Commander in the Eastern Sri Lankan Districts of Batticaloa and Amparai, “Col” Karuna, quit the organization in 2004 with 6,000 trained combat cadres.
Karuna’s defection had a great bearing on the outcome of Eelam War IV, says Thamilini, former Head of the Women’s Political Wing of the LTTE in her book “Oru Koorvaalin Nizhalil” (In the Shadow of a Sharp Sword).
The defection created a severe manpower crisis in the LTTE as it could not fill the gap in the following years, and had to resort to forcible recruitment and make do with cadres of less ability and poorer training during the final war in 2006-2009. Forcible recruitment alienated the Tamil population whose support was necessary for the survival of the militant outfit when the chips were down.
Thamilini recalls that she was dumbfounded when she was told by the Jaffna political leader, Ilamparithi, that Karuna had walked away with 6,000 cadres. Karuna and his Eastern cadres had played a critical role in the military successes of the LTTE in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and Karuna was very close to Prabhakaran, she notes.
“I can confirm that leader Prabhakaran had reposed boundless faith in Karuna, and had special affection for him. Several times I have seen Karuna sitting very close to Prabhakaran and discussing matters with him,” Thamilini recalls.
Pottu Amman Caused Rift
According to the Women’s Wing leader, the main cause of Karuna’s rift with Prabhakaran was the outfit’s Intelligence Chief, Pottu Amman. The seeds of the rift were sown by Pottu Amman in the early days of the 2002-2004 Norwegian-mediated peace process.
Thamilini recalls that Col.Vidusha, commander of the elite women’s combat unit, the Malathi Brigade, had told her that at a meeting she had with Prabhakaran in the early days of the peace process, the Tiger chief had praised the work of Karuna, noted the travails of the Tamils of the East, and urged LTTE cadres to help the people there. But he also regretted that “Pottu’s people” were vitiating the atmosphere in the East.
“Karuna is working, but Pottu’s people keep telling me this has gone wrong, that has gone wrong. The first requirement is unity among the leaders,” Prabhakaran said.
Subsequently, giving the mounting complaints from Pottu Amman, Prabhakaran issued a summons to Karuna in 2004, but the latter refused to answer it fearing execution. Instead he declared his intention to leave the organization with his cadres. The LTTE leadership immediately launched a campaign to retrieve the cadres and killed, in the process, several cadres including outstanding Eastern military commanders like Regi and Robert.
The exit of Karuna meant that when Eelam War IV broke out in 2006, the Lankan army had no difficulty in reclaiming the Eastern Province.
Depletion Of Prabakaran’s Cadres
The peace process of 2002-2004 led to many cadres leaving the organization for personal and familial reasons. Some got married and others were under pressure from the families to return to civilian life and earn money. “The result of all this was a progressive reduction in able-abodied and trained cadres in the LTTE,” Thamilini said, explaining the defeat of the outfit in May 2009.
