Some Tigers are Ligers Now

In the climate of dead rock silence maintained by the government, it is hard to contest the claims by the civil society.

Liger vs tiger, fight!

(LONDON The Guardian) - The post conflict development in the Tamil areas in Sri Lanka is showing an extra-ordinary situation.

The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) cadres whom were conditioned by the loyalty vow and ready to commit suicide by biting the cyanide capsule have changed their spots of the Tiger to become the marauding Ligers for their own survival.

They were ruling the Tamils with their iron first during the LTTE regime and some of them have changed their colours and spots and are subtly playing the same role under the government military rule in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.

This is what I heard from people when I visited Sri Lanka recently:

Quote 1: ‘The surviving unruly Tigers are kings in Jaffna. No one can touch them as they are under the protection of the army. If anyone tries to confront them, they will call the army on the cell phone and the consequence would be serious. They are moving around freely and they dictate. Army will not listen to us’.

Quote 2: ‘These fellows know how to survive. They are well looked after by the army’.

Quote 3: ‘Some Tiger fellows are consolidating their power with the help of the army. Some of the lands forcefully taken over by the Tigers are still controlled by these residuals. They are being backed by the army and we are unable to do anything to reclaim the land. They have got bogus deeds and the army or civil enforcement is disinterested when it involves the former LTTE. We are scared’.

Quote 4: ‘They move around freely on motorbikes’

These quotes speak very strongly about the underlying and the threatening situation for Tamil civilian population. The government wants more and more of the Tiger cadres in its fold to extend its own agenda and these residuals are doing the greatest service to fulfill the governments objectives.

There are also some senior level Tigers made Ligers thriving in the government safety net. The infamous ones are KP, Karuna and Paapa. According to information some are in the state intelligence service proving important work to keep the Tamils on the tab.

The most intriguing of the vanquished Tigers are the 52 senior LTTE men surrendered to the army in Mullivaykal and taken away in a bus load to an unknown place. Where are they? Dumbfounded silence is maintained by the government. Whether they are still Tigers or turned into Ligers is not known. Speculations are rife that they have faced the ultimate destiny in the hands of the army.

Interestingly, one told me that the LTTE’s intelligence man Pottu is in the custody of the army. Is he giving the much wanted intelligence ideas to the army intelligence service?

In the climate of dead rock silence maintained by the government, it is hard to contest the claims by the civil society.

First published by Sri Lanka Guardian