There is a recurring news item about Kumaran Pathmanathan . He was the man who was named by Prabhakaran the terrorist to take over the terrorist activities after him. A person to be considered reliable by the worlds most ruthless terrorist Velupillai Prabhakaran to carry on his terrorist activities after him , must be one who is as equal to him to carry on terrorism from where he had stopped.
Robert Blake is said to have had direct contact with the LTTE terrorist leadership through Kumaran Pathmanathan- a known arms smuggler and money launderer. He was also identified as Tharmalingham, Shanmugam Kumaran or KP . He was placed on Interpol red notice, which seeks the arrest or provisional arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition, at India’s request following the murder of Rajiv Ghandi by the Tamil Tigers.
Operating the Tiger’s procurement network clandestinely from Thailand and Malaysia, KP managed to evade arrest and was appointed as the LTTE head of International relations. And subsequently named as the leader of the LTTE after him, by the thalaivar Prabhakaran himself. This is how he was identified before his arrest by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Kumaran Pathmanathan did neither surrender to the Government nor did he after his arrest decline to continue terrorism as a means to set up an Eelam State for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
He was procuring arms and providing other material needs of the terrorists to carry on their terrorism unhindered, with all modern facilities to operate their machines of terror. He was responsible for all the assassinations, murders and massacres, whether by explosion of claymore bombs, grenades, suicide cadres, or Soosai’s powered boats in the seas.It was only after the death of the terrorist leadership that the government was able to arrest him.
He was arrested as a terrorist who had been engaged by the terrorist leader Prabhakaran to continue terrorism in Sri Lanka. Therefore the government cannot differentiate him from the rest of the terrorists. He is therefore the only terrorist leader alive from all those who were eliminated or captured and held in prisons. He is perhaps still on the red list of the Interpol.
What guarantee has the Government of Sri Lanka that he could now be trusted ?
KP’s mind is unfathomable. He may pretend to have given up the intention to set up the Tamil Homeland which was dying terrorist leader’s request. But to what extent could Gotabhaya Rajapaksa or the President Mahinda Rajapaksa trust him. Prabhakaran never kept his word to the best of his interlocutors. Therefore, Pathmanathan, the best friend and accomplice of Prabhakaran is not reliable. President R.Premadasa was assassinated by a terrorist who won his trust and friendship.
Once he is free K.pathmanathan may be contacted by the Indian RAW, and Pathmanathan will play the same role he had been playing with the Government of Sri Lanka, with the Government of India as well. He is a shrewd man and has nothing to loose. In that situation the Government of Sri Lanka seems to be playing with fire in trying to give Pathmanathan political responsibility in the North and East.
Pathmanathan is useful both to India and Blake of USA to go ahead with the Agenda they had in mind when they were seeking to save Prabhakaran, to break up Sri Lanka and create a Kosavo style independent Tamil Eelam State. In releasing Pathmanathan the government of Sri Lanka will only be playing into their hands.
Karuna Amman was different, because he risked his life when he broke away from Prabhakaran and from terrorism. He is sincere, and he is different even from the other Tamil politicians like Ananda Sangaree, Douglass Devananda, and the TNA politicians. Because Karuna Amman is more genuine having no secret political agenda, if not he will not disband his political party to join the SLFP.
While other Tamil politicians still identify themselves separately from the majority community, Karuna Amman sought to unite with the majority. He could be compared to what was Barrack Obama to Americans- not a representative of the Black Americans, but just another “ American”.
Therefore, Karuna Amman cannot be likened to the shrewd, unreliable arms smuggler, and money launderer Kumaran Pathmanathan, as it would be an insult to Karuna Amman.
Pathmanathan has not given up his terrorist intentions, even today with all the talk about his giving all secret information concerning the LTTE terrorists he may still be holding on to his allegiance to his friend Prabhakaran, and may want to revive terrorism in a different way, for instance by breaking away North and East to set up a Tamil Eelam State, with the help of his old friend, Robert O’Blake, those in Norway and the Government of India- whose intentions will always remain an enigma.
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