Backlash
I received a strange and disturbing report today from one of my contacts: Eyewitnesses say that Tamil civilians in the North of Sri Lanka have attacked (or demonstrated against— the translation is ambiguous) the LTTE.
The report says that the cease-fire had the LTTE short of combat troops, and since the resumption of hoistilities, they've forcibly recruited people and sent them into battle with only three months training. The life expectancy of these troops has not proven to be very high. Now villagers in parts of the LTTE's territory are rising up in protest— and apparently, self-defense.
This suggests: (1) during the four-year cease fire, the LTTE had indeed begun to transform from a military organization into a civil organization, (2) the LTTE miscalculated the government's reaction and didn't anticipate this level of conflict, and (3) even though the LTTE is not a democratic organization, it still has a responsibility to its constituency, and that constituency still has the ability to remind LTTE of that responsibility given enough need.
What this means for the future of the conflict is anyone's guess.
I don't believe it. If there were ANY sign of a popular uprising against LTTE, it would be all over the Southern news...
Reply to this
I asked another contact about this report. He said, "I'm not surprised." He feels there is widespread disapproval of the LTTE among their constituency right now.
Reply to this