By

Manekshaw

The names of several former bigwigs of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from the North, including its former head of the media unit, Daya Master, had come up as potential candidates of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC), following the government’s announcement to hold Provincial Council polls in September.

Other names to surface as potential candidates were Subramaniam Sivagami alias Thamilini, the former political wing leader of the LTTE’s women wing who was recently deemed ‘rehabilitated’ and ‘integrated into society’ and Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), the former international coordinator of the outfit. Rumours abound that the UPFA would be fielding these ex- LTTE ‘big guns’ in the NPC polls in a manner similar to how S. Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan and V. Muralitharan alias Karuna, were brought into the political scene and given prominence in the Eastern Province.

The UPFA Government succeeded in elevating the ex-LTTE cadres to high positions – Pillaiyan to the position of the first Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, and Karuna, identified as one of the LTTE’s ‘best bets’ in the battle front, to the rank of Deputy Minister, a position he still holds.

Initial expectations

As the UPFA embarked on the head hunt to prepare its nomination list for the NPC, Daya Master’s name was the first to be mentioned. Proving that it was no mere speculation, he was also interviewed by the UPFA General Secretary and Minister, Susil Premajayantha, at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Headquarters in Colombo, last month. Following the interview, Daya Master was granted SLFP membership along with several other individuals from the North.

Reportedly, even the Minister of Public Relations, Mervyn Silva, who had recently visited the North, had praised Daya Master for his decision to come forward to contest at the forthcoming NPC polls.

Conversely, although Daya Master was willing and eager to contest, the other two former LTTE bigwigs, Thamilini , and Kumaran Pathmanathan, had both refused to engage in politics, claiming they preferred to lead normal and ordinary lives.

Since his arrest by the military sleuths in Malaysia shortly after the war ended, and the subsequent investigations carried out with regard to his involvement with the LTTE, KP has totally dedicated himself to establishing orphanages. He has even gone to the extent of establishing his own non-governmental organization known as NERDO (North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organization) to help children orphaned by the war in the North and East.

KP was in Colombo under tight security, directly under the supervision of Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, for nearly two years, and was later allowed to re-establish contact with his former colleagues. Permission was also granted to his Thai wife to visit him in Colombo.

Other two decline

Following the setting up of NERDO, KP concentrated on his activities in Kilinochchi, setting up orphanages with funds he received from his overseas contacts, who had ironically, earlier, provided him with funds to by arms and ammunitions for the LTTE.

When KP was approached by the UPFA as a potential candidate, he had politely refused to engage in politics, saying that he was extremely happy with his charity work.

Sivagami alias Thamilini, the former head of the LTTE’s women political wing, was handpicked by LTTE Chief, V. Prabhakaran, and his theoretician, Anton Balasingham, to spearhead the political activities in support of the LTTE’s political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan. She was also part of the LTTE’s globe-trotting team, which participated in the Norway-facilitated negotiations with the government.

As the political activist of the outfit, Thamilini had proved herself to be an efficient political figure in the making.

Thamilini, who underwent rehabilitation along with hundreds of other male and female LTTE cadres, was released into the care of her family by defence officials a few months ago. When offered prospects of contesting the NPC polls on a UPFA ticket, she too had refused to enter the fray, saying she preferred a quiet married life instead of coming into the limelight again.

Therefore , it was only V. Dayanithy alias Daya Master, who gave his consent to contest on behalf of the UPFA in the NPC polls, confident he would be made the chief ministerial candidate. Certain of the nomination, he had even resigned from the Jaffna-based Dish Asia Network (DAN) television, where he served as a News Director soon after he was released from the custody of the Security Forces.

Both Daya Master and George Master, who had been Thamilselvan’s interpreter, were enlarged on bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court, over a pending case with regard to their involvement with the LTTE. However, Daya Master had reportedly participated in pocket meetings in Jaffna in support of the UPFA.

A rude shock

Until the very last moment when the names of the candidates of the UPFA for the North were being finalized, Daya Master had been extremely hopeful that he would be one of the seven candidates of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the Jaffna District. But when the SLFP list of candidates was finalized, it notably excluded the name of the LTTE’s former media division head.

Already engaged in polls related activities, the omission has come as a rude shock to Daya Master, who has since been wondering what really went wrong. The UPFA’s decision to drop the former LTTE cadre from its list of nominees to the NCP, makes a stark contrast to its action in the Eastern Province, which saw the former cadres being given pride of place.

Meanwhile, as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), from its inception played a supportive role to the LTTE’s political wing, there were expectations that the Alliance would include ex-LTTE cadres or individuals such as former Uthayan Editor N. Vithyatahran, who had been on good terms with the LTTE, in its list of nominees. However the TNA Chief, R. Sampanthan, showcasing his enormous maturity in Tamil politics, had chosen the candidates, from the chief ministerial candidate, C.V. Vigneswaran onwards carefully, to give a good beginning to the Northern Provincial Council.

For good measure, the names of three women have also been included in the TNA list, with one of them being Ananthi Sasitharan, the wife of Elilan, the former head of the LTTE’s political wing in Trincomalee.

Ananthi is a government servant and is presently working as a clerk in the Kilinochchi Government Secretariat. She was in government service even when her husband was a key member in the LTTE.

Ananthi has also filed a habeas corpus case at the High Court in Vavuniya, in search of her husband who had surrendered to the Security Forces in the Vanni along with several others at the end of the war in 2009. The case was taken up last week with the Court ordering the Attorney General’s Department to file its objection on 26 August.

Highlighting its solidarity with all five constituent parties, the TNA simultaneously filed its nominations in all five electoral districts in the Northern Province yesterday.

It is ironic that Daya Master who was once considered a prospective chief ministerial candidate of the UPFA was so summarily dropped from the list without any explanation. No wonder, the prospective candidate, who until the last moment was hopeful he would be included in the UPFA nomination list feels he has been ‘back stabbed’ and wonders from which direction it happened ?

COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY