LTTE Leader Pirapaharan, in his Heroes Day Address explained his frustration that the Tamils have suffered during the last 6 years of peace negotiations and finally spelled out that the Tamil people have taken a decision to form an independent state of Tamil Eelam.

It was expected that the tone of his Address would be rather strong. In an environment of a fear that the war might break out any moment, he delivered his address, which is now being scrutinized by diplomatic circles.

These circles consider his address as the assessment of the past and a call for the future. They estmate Pirapaharan as a person powerful enough to chalk out the political agenda of this country. Although the government circles dismiss it as an ordinary speech, the realities referred to in the address cannot be challenged. This address signals the future of this country.

At the outset of his address, Pirapaharan did not fail to point out that initially they came to the negotiating table from a position of strength. He explained that itself was indicative of the inclination of the LTTE to resolve the ethnic problem through peaceful means.

He stressed that the government was determined to pursue their military offensive despite their preparedness to compromise on many issues. He cited two instances during the peace effort derailment period when the LTTE could have returned to war but yet refrained. One was the Tsunami and the other Mahinda’s Presidential election, both calling for delay and consideration.

It is the considered view of Pirapaharan that the peace talks that were undertaken with the support of the international community is only an exercise in prevarication. And the government participated in the talks with a hidden agenda as a representative of the Sinhala polity resolute in its refusal to accommodate the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people.

LTTE Leader Pirapharan’s address on the Heroes’ Day makes it explicitly clear that the time has run out.

An English translation of the Editorial in Thinakkural, a Tamil daily, based in Colombo

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