When the Tigers Died

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." – Albert Einstein

The Sri Lankan government officially confirmed that the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was killed along with most of the top tier leadership of the terrorist group. This is a huge development in one of the longest running insurgencies in Asia. Now comes the hard part – finding a lasting peace between the Singhalese Buddhists and the minority Tamil Hindus.

The LTTE claimed to represent the Tamil population of Sri Lanka while waging its war against the government in Colombo in an effort to establish an independent state in the north of the island. Many Tamils did indeed identify with the Tiger cause, but eventually the LTTE became as oppressive as the government they were fighting causing many Tamils to become disillusioned with the war. In an attempt to compensate for declining popularity the LTTE became more aggressive shortly after 2002 only to have the government respond militarily culminating in the most recent war. In essence the LTTE overplayed its hand and the government called the bluff.

The war may be over, but the problem that the LTTE exploited in their rise to power remains. In the not too distant past the ruling government in Colombo consisted almost exclusively of the Singhalese majority which led to repression of the Tamil minority. During one of the many violent confrontations, a young Prabhakaran watched as some of his family members were beaten to death by government security forces. This episode would serve as Prabhakaran’s justification in founding the Tigers. But as successive case studies of terrorist movements show us, terror is often inflicted upon those that terrorists claim to be defending. Instead of working with other Tamil groups for a separate homeland, Prabhakaran instead chose to eliminate them violently. In fact, any Tamil that was deemed moderate in the struggle was fair game. This indiscriminate violence is what pushed the Tigers from freedom fighters to terrorists in short order.

We must keep in mind that the Tigers are dead, but the Singhalese are still the majority and the Tamils are still the minority on an island that is relatively poor. If Sri Lanka is enjoy any period of peace a political accommodation of the Tamils is necessary; otherwise the Tigers could be resurrected.

It is possible that some hold out members of the Black Tigers (the suicide unit) could launch suicide bombings in a last ditch attempt to cause havoc. Such action is not unprecedented. The outcome for any terrorist group is inevitable, because, as I’ve said before, there is no retirement home for terrorists.