In his annual address marking Heroes' Day in late November LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran spoke of the need to solve the Sri Lankan conflict in a civilised manner. His statement assumes great significance coming as it did only a week after President Chandrika Kumaratunga had told leaders of the Tamil parliamentary parties that she was willing to negotiate with the LTTE.
Prabhakaran and Kumaratunga need to be commended, and supported, if their willingness to talk peace is genuine. But, unfortunately, neither peace offer can be viewed in isolation from the two leaders' strategies to promote their own interests. The LTTE and the government have a multiplicity of means through which they seek to achieve their own goals, offers to talk are one and military operations are another.
The international media gave considerable play to Prabakaran's peace offer. And this should not be grudged, for it is certainly preferable that the LTTE should pile pressure on the Sri Lankan government through political means (words) rather than through its more accustomed military means (bombs). This change in tactics may herald the beginning of a real search for a lasting solution to the country's ethnic conflict.
But, to be realistic, a peaceful solution is still a while away. The government continues with its ban on the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, and has not let up in its efforts to have it outlawed internationally as well. It has denied legitimacy to the LTTE. Perhaps the time has come for the LTTE to consider setting up a fullfledged political organisation, on the lines of the IRA-Sinn Fein arrangement, if peace through political negotiations is to be a reality.