India & the Struggle for Tamil Eelam

RAW aiding paramilitary recruitment in India
[TamilNet, June 25, 2006 ]

"Inter-state relations are not governed by the logic of  morality. They were and they remain an amoral phenomenon.." Jyotindra Nath Dixit Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka 1985 /89, Foreign Secretary in 1991/94 and National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of India 2004/05, speaking in Switzerland, February 1998

Sri Lanka’s Army-backed Tamil paramilitaries are seeking recruits amongst Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, offering hefty salaries, an Indian news agency reported this week. The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), an India-based paramilitary group now operating in an anti-LTTE grouping under the Karuna Group, is seeking recruits from refugee camps and orphanages in southern India, an Indian website reported, citing local press reports.

The recruitment is being conducted with the knowledge of India’s external intelligence agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), the report added. The ENDLF, reportedly headed by Paranthan Rajan, has been recruiting cadres for the Karuna Group (named after the renegade LTTE commander who heads it) from refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, the website quoted local press reports as saying.

New recruits were being offered Rs 10,000 on joining, with more promised when they reached Sri Lanka. Rajan, a veteran paramilitary operating in India since 1990, has also been associated with an orphanage for Tamil refugees based in Bangalore, the website reported. One of the charges against him is that he sent some boys from the orphanage to participate in militant activities in Sri Lanka. Rajan has contacts with several anti-LTTE groups, and he himself has been associated with several outfits, the report said. Originally a member of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Rajan left it to form Three Stars, along with dissidents from two other groups — Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).

In 1987, when the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was in Sri Lanka, Rajan came into contact with RAW officials, who created ENDLF by merging Three Stars and splinter groups of PLOTE and EPRLF. In 1990, soon after the IPKF left Sri Lanka, Rajan, along with cadres of many other pro-Indian groups, shifted base to India. Rajan operated out of Chennai and Bangalore.

Rajan came to Indian intelligence officials’ attention when he joined Karuna’s group and formed a political outfit — Tamileela Iykkia Viduthalai Munnani. Given his background, observers feel Rajan’s alliance with Karuna might be RAW’s handiwork.

“Rajan’s unusually lengthy stay in India — he first arrived in India in 1990 — and his unrestricted movement here, coupled with his anti-LTTE activities on Indian soil, are seen as concrete proof that he is a RAW agent,” the website said. The recently defeated Jayalalithaa government had arrested Rajan in 2004 – observers feel that he misread signals following Jayalalithaa’s crackdown on pro-LTTE groups in Tamil Nadu and felt he could have a free run with his anti-LTTE propaganda. But he was released at the behest of RAW, the report said.

And Rajan was said to be once again active in Tamil Nadu, even though he had been deported last year on the condition that he would not return to India. Rajan landed in Bangalore a few weeks before the May 2006 Assembly elections and shifted to Tamil Nadu after the DMK came to power in May. Police are not sure about Rajan’s present location. Asked if he might be holed up in some other Indian state like Orissa, where several pro-Indian militant leaders are believed to be hiding, an official told the website he could comment only on the situation in Tamil Nadu. According to another Indian official, Rajan is currently in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, which happens to be Karuna Group’s main area of operation.

The ENDLF is being used by RAW to as a rallying point of anti-LTTE groups, the report said. Rajan’s actions could have had RAW’s blessings as it might have had an interest in promoting Karuna and neutralising LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan’s appeal in Tamil Nadu, the report said.

In the wake of the April 2004 crushing of Karuna’s rebellion against the LTTE, Sri Lanka’s military has brought a number of paramilitary groups, including the ENDLF under one grouping to wage a campaign against the LTTE and its supporters. ENDLF cadres based in India have been rotating into Sri Lanka’s Northeast on one-year visas issued by the Sri Lankan government to bolster the ‘shadow war.’ The covert war of attrition that has now escalated into a low-intensity war between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE – which has sent over three thousand people fleeing to southern India in the past few months.
 

As Sri Lanka slides into war again, PC Vinoj Kumar examines allegations that Indian intelligence agency RAW is propping up an anti-LTTE outfit to neutralise Tiger supremo V. Prabhakaran’s influence

War clouds are gathering over Sri Lanka — both the Sri Lankan army and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres are mounting attacks on each other with increasing frequency. In Tamil Nadu, the Karunanidhi government is beginning to feel the pinch. The elite ‘Q Branch’ of Chennai police and the Coastal Security Group personnel have stepped up vigil to prevent infiltration of Tamil militants sneaking into the state in the garb of refugees.

But there is trouble from unexpected quarters. A group which supports the cause of an independent Tamil Eelam homeland in Sri Lanka, created by India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), has been accused of recruiting cadres for the renegade LTTE leader Karuna from the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.

The group in question is the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front [ENDLF], headed by Paranthan Rajan, who is allegedly being used by RAW to neutralise LTTE's influence in Tamil Nadu and serve as a rallying point of anti-LTTE groups. Though Lankan Tamil separatist groups in the state like Pazha Nedumaran's Tamil Nationalist Movement (TNM) have been sounding the alarm about ENDLF's activities for quite some time, it was a report on a Tamil website that has prompted the Tamil Nadu government to act.

In a hard-hitting commentary, titled 'Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) meendum thamizh inathirku throgam' (Kalaiganar betrays Tamils again), the report said that Rajan was recruiting cadres for the Karuna Group from refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, and that the Karuanidhi government was a mute spectator to his activities. According to the report, new recruits were paid Rs. 10,000 on joining. with more promised when they reached Sri Lanka. The Jayalithaa government had arrested Rajan in 2004 but, according to the report, he was released at behest of RAW.

TNM sources confirmed that Rajan was active in the state, even though he had been deported last year on the condition that he would not return to India. In a lead article in the party's official organ Then Seidi, published in February this year, it questioned Indian intelligence officials' rationale in allowing Rajan to return to India and set up base in Bangalore. "It is clear that they (Rajan and his associates) have returned with some evil designs," the article noted. RAW had intercepted pro-LTTE Sri Lankan MP Elaventhan at the Chennai airport in 2004 and sent hi8m back to Sri Lanka, the report said, because he had been deported from India earlier.

Rajan's unusually lengthy stay in India - he first arrived in India in 1990 - and his unrestricted movement here, coupled with his anti-LTTE groups, and he himself has been associated with several outfits. Originally a member of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), he left it to form Tree Stars, along with dissidents from two other groups - Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). In 1987, when the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was in Sri Lanka, he came into contact with RAW officials, who created ENDLF by mrerging Trhee Stars and splinter groups of PLOTE and EPRLF. ENDLF contested the North East Prvincial Council Electins in Sri Lanka in 1988. which was conducted under Indian supervision. In 1990. soon after the IPKF left Sri Lanka, Rajan, along with cadres of many other pro-Indian groups. shifted base to India. Rajan operated out of Chennai and Bangalore.

More recently, he has been associated with an orphanage for Tamil refugees based in Bangalore. One of the charges against him is that he sent some boys from the orphanage to particpate in militant activities in Sri Lanka.

Rajan came under intelligence officials' scanner when he joined Karuna's group after the split in the LTTE, and formed a political outfit - Tamileela Iyakkia Viduthatlai Munnani. Given his back ground, observers feel Rajan's alliance with Karuna might be RAW's handiwork. However, Rajan made the mistake of indulging in anti-LTTE propaganda in Tamil Nadu, not anticipating that this would land him behind bars. Observers feel that he misread signals following Jayalalithaa's crackdown on pro-LTTE groups in Tamil Nadu and felt he could have a free run with his anti-LTTE propaganda.

"His group distributed anti-LTTE pamphlets in Chennai at a pro-Eelam meeting and pasted posters depicted (LTTE chief) Prabhakaran as Hitler,"says the member of a Chennai-based Sri Lankan Tamil organisation. Rajan also distribued copies of Karuna's speeches at meetings. Rajan's actions could have had RAW's blessings, as it might have had an interest in promoting Karuna as the mascot of Eelam and neutralising Prabhakaran's appeal in Tamil Nadu. But the experiment fizzled out when Tamil Nadu Police took Rajan under custody in December 2004, fearing a repeat of a Padmanabha-type action in the state by the LTTE. In 1990, an assassination squad, allegedly consisting of LTTE cadres, killed EPRLF leader padmanabha and many of his associates in Chennai.

The Jayalalithaa government took Rajan and seven other leaders under 'protective custody' supposedly apprehending danger to his life from LTTE. Then DGP AX Alexander personally questioned all of them. Rajan reportedly dropped names of some RAW officials, but he was sent to the Chengalpattu special camp where Sri Lankan militants are kept. Rajan was released in August 2005 after he promised to go back to Sri Lanka and never return to India. But sources say that Rajan landed in Bangalore a few weeks before the May 2006 Assembly elections and shifted to Tamil Nadu after the DMK came to power.

State intelligence agencies however deny that Rajan is in Tamil nadu, recruiting cadres for Karuna. "We will not allow anybody to indulge in such activities in the state. We do not want any repeat of the past unfortunate incidents in the state," a senior official told TEHELKA. Besides the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Tamil Nadu has witnessed several other incidents involving different militant groups. in the past. Doulas Devananda who leads the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and is currently the social services and social welfare minister in the Rajpakse government in Sri Lanka, was involved in a murder case in Chennai. (See Box - will be uploaded later)

Police are not sure about Rajan's present location. Asked if he might be holded up in some other Indian state like Orissa, where several pro-Indian militant leaders are believed to be hiding, an official said he could comment only on the situation in Tamil Nadu. According to another official, Rajan is currently in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, which happens to be Karuna's base.

Officials insist that they will deal with all militant groups with an even hand and not show leniency to non-LTTE groups. The Q Branch of Chennai police is screening all Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka before admitting them in camps. Those connected to militant groups are detained and sent to special camps. According to an official, in the last month, three people. including two who had undergone training in an LTTE camp, and one former EPRLF cadre, have been sent to the special camp.

With the situation in Sri Lanka worsening, the inflex of refugees is likely to increase in the coming days. A senior journalist speaking from Colombo told TEHELKA,"The low intensity war between the Tighers and the government troops is showing signs of escalating into a full-scale war. Unlike in the past, the current violence continues unabated and every day one incident or another is being reported. Over 700 people, including LTTE cadres, government soldiers, and civilians have been killed since January. Violence at such a scale has not been reported since the 2002 ceasefire."

The Sri Lankan government feels encouraged following the European Union's ban on LTTE and the hawks in the Rajapakse government are confident that a military solution is possible. The mood in the LTTE camp is not any different. Recent speeches by top LTTE leaders indicate the outfit's combative stance. The Tigers are now talking about the strategies they would adopt in the event of a war, a departure from the past when top leaders refrained from belligerent talk. Addressing a passing-out parade of Makkal Padai (People's Army) - the LTTE's civilian defence force - earlier this month at Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaitheevu, Colonel Soosai, special commander of the Sea Tigers (LTTE's naval wing) said, "It (the war) will be a blitzkrieg, a sudden and swift simultaneous attack to redeem out entire Tamil homeland in the north and east. We would not adopt the earlier method of fighting to redeem it inch by inch."

The LTTE has built up its strength during the ceasefire period. The present strength of the outfit is estimated at around 20,000. In 2004, then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga admitted that the LTTE had grown from about 7,000 cadres to 18,000 since the ceasefire in 2002.

Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, political parties are watching developments in Sri Lanka with concern. A meeting of the Democratic Progressive Alliance on June 19 led by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi called upon the Centre to take necessary steps to restore peace in Sri Lanka. the outbreak of a full-fledged war would trigger a massive exodus of Tamil refugees into the state - something the Karunanidhi government could do without. [THE END]