KP’s story continues to provide insights into the history of the LTTE, Tamil politics and the contemporary history of Sri Lanka. One disclosure stands out. “The then TULF leader A. Amirthalingham introduced me to Prabhakaran in mid 70s, most probably in 1976 and since then we worked together”. (‘KP Speaks Out: An Interview with T. Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP’, Shamindra Ferdinando, The Island, Aug 5, 2010).

An exegetical attempt is subsequently made to downgrade its significance and render it ‘innocuous’. “KP was introduced to Prabhakaran – both 20 + years, by Amirthalingam when he was out of parliament (1970-77) and in with the grassroots as well as the violent upstarts.” (‘Tamil politics post-LTTE: serious business or serial stories?’ Rajan Philips, Sunday Island, Aug 15, 2010).

Let us unpack the meaning of KP’s disclosure. The leader of the moderate secessionist Tamil party the TULF, Mr Amirthalingam, introduced KP to a young man known to be heading a terrorist organisation. For what purpose could he have done this? If he wanted to recruit KP he could have done so to the TULF or its youth/students wing. Instead he pretty much acted as a recruiter for a terrorist nucleus.

Once upon a time, it was taken as a fact that the CFA, or the Cease Fire Agreement was hidden from the then President, Madam Chandrika Kumaratunga.  Or rather, that she got to know about it, only when it was signed and delivered, so to speak!  That may have been, since it was a house divided, with a UPFA President  and a UNF Government, with no love lost between them, at that time!

But now, new facts emerging from the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission tells an alarming story that even the senior officers of the then Government were unaware of the CFA. We learn, rather surprisingly, according to the submissions of the former Defence Secretary, Austin Fernando to the LLRC, that he had "not been involved with the preparing of the CFA."

The world is still sympathetic to the terror organization LTTE

India with strong marketing caught the world attention on Mumbai 26/11

War has cost Sri Lanka 70,000 lives and cost US$200 billion to the economy

The Diaspora is only 1 million but Sri Lanka has 20 million voices

Last week when I saw my former colleague from the Government Peace Secretariat appearing before the "Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)’ and later that evening we saw the adverse publicity on BBC and CNN, it was very evident that global perception were very sympathetic towards the LTTE. It was then that I decided that it is my duty to write these thoughts, given that we were part of the larger team that fought the war with the LTTE.

Had it not been for the Revolutionary war of Independence, America perhaps would have remained a colony of Great Britain for longer than it did. It was the disregard of the demands by American colonists that precipitated this war. The most significant reasons for their discontent were taxation without representation in the British Parliament, and the imposition of unreasonable taxes. If Great Britain had had the foresight that its stand on demands made would precipitate war, it would have been more accommodating. This would have delayed the cry for independence. The lesson to be learnt by those in power is how vitally important it is to continually gauge and ascertain the mood of the people, if consequences with serious implications are to be avoided.