By Sonali Samarasinghe

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely re-arranging their prejudices. With politicians this is often the case. That Sri Lanka Freedom Party stalwarts like former Cultural Affairs Minister Lakshman Jayakody and Speaker K. B. Ratnayake have been unceremoniously struck off the People's Alliance national list to make way for the likes of former Chief Minister of the North Eastern Province Varatharajah Perumal and Sarath Kongahage have to say the least raised an eye brow or two.

Yet in the case of Perumal the man who was responsible together with the IPKF in training a Tamil National Army (TNA) the eyebrows of whose young members were often shaved off for easy identification, it is not merely eyebrows that are shaven or raised but anger.

On March 1, 1990 Varathrajah Perumal, Chief Minister of the North Eastern Provincial Council in violation of the sixth amendment which is still in force, was to Declare Unilateral Independence and set up a separate Eelam state.

In late 1999 on the invitation of this government the chief ministerial pestilence was back. When he fled Lankan shores ten days after his infamous UDI in March 1990 he was to make a telling threat. "I will never give up the Eelam state. I will prepare for it and be back," he told mediamen.

For almost ten years he lived as India's prized possession. He fled the country illegally flouting all immigration laws by an Indian helicopter and lived in self exile in India together with his wife and three daughters. India was pleased to provide a company of CRPF (Security) and some 20 local police personnel in addition to a coterie of men from the Indian Central Intelligence Agency. He was given a palatial bungalow in Rajasthan in Ajmer where he had 12 domestic helps, a liaison officer, cooks, servants and two vehicles. He was also given a sum of Indian Rupees 600,000 annually (LKR 1.2 million) for personal expenditure all courtesy of Mother India.

But let's come to that in a moment. Firstly it seems strange that a government that has made the alleged fond and affectionate links between the UNP and the LTTE the bedrock of every election platform on the basis that the LTTE is a villainous organisation out to divide the country now embraces to its bosom mind you at the expense of long time SLFPers the likes of Varatharajah Perumal who has done nothing but publicise his quest for Eelam by fair or foul means.

Consider this. This is a man who has violated the sixth amendment of the constitution and then illegally fled the country. On return he should have been arrested and bunged into prison. Instead of which he is slapped onto the PA national list. The irony of it is that Douglas Peiris is arrested on arrival and then made to sign an affidavit and now C. A. Chandraprema, a freelance journalist and Bodhi Ranasinghe are arrested on allegedly aiding and abetting Douglas Peiris in obtaining a false passport. By the same token how did Perumal return to the country without proper documentation having fled the country illegally.

And when a man who has violated the constitution and committed high treason fled the country with the help of the Indians and the IPKF was maintained for almost ten years by the Indians arrives at the opportune moment he is escorted in princely manner to Temple Trees when he should have been taken to Welikada instead.

In an interview published in The Island last week September 7, Perumal has said that his inclusion in the national list was evidence that the PA was willing to accommodate moderate Tamil leaders as part of the government's strategy to strengthen the anti LTTE elements. It is hard to believe that the man who merely moved from Rajasthan to Colombo could have also changed his stance on Eelam so quickly.

Nonetheless in consequence of the controversial India-Sri Lanka peace accord in 1987 the North and East was temporarily merged and Varatharajah Perumal became its Chief Minister. For a few months Perumal held sway enjoying the good offices of the central government but not for long. He soon displayed his mindset when he insisted on calling the North Eastern provincial council the north eastern provincial government directly violating the directive of the centre.

What of Perumal himself. He was a member of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). On December 10, 1988, Perumal become Chief Minister of the North East provincial Council. It was the first step to realising his dream. Trouble already arose as J. R. Jayawardena insisted that Trincomalee could not be the capital of the NEPC. Perumal's grandiose plans were already to be revealed. Even at that time he was heard to say "Premadasa wanted to treat the provincial government as if it was a municipal council. He thought only he could head a government."

During the presidential elections in 1988 the EPRLF openly supported the nominee of the left wing United Socialist Alliance (USA) Ossie Abeygunasekera which party was headed by Chandrika Kumaratunga.

After Ranasinghe Premadasa took over as president he issued an ultimatum that the IPKF should leave the shores of independent Sri Lanka. On June, 1 Premadasa publicly asked India to pull out its army by the end of July 1989. Premadasa and Gandhi aired their differences publicly. Premadasa threatened to confine the Indian troops to barracks if they were not withdrawn by the end of July. Rajiv Gandhi in the meantime angry at Premadasa agreed with Varatharajah Perumal who met him in New Delhi to set up a paramilitary militia in the northeast which was to be later known as the Tamil National Army (TNA). Gandhi assured Perumal that he would not let the NEPC which Perumal called the NEPG (North East Provincial Government) collapse. Perumal had wanted at least a 15,000 strong force to which Gandhi agreed.

Operators in Trincomalee were said to be in close contact with the military commanders of TNA which stockpiled a wide variety of weapons in the months preceding the November elections in India. The TNA's arsenal was flown into the northeast by Indian Ariforce planes and helicopters and included AK-47 rifles, bazookas, mortars, grenades, RPGs powerful Swedish Carl Gustav recoilless rifles. When the superior LTTE fighters launched attacks on the ill trained TNA members, they fled leaving behind huge quantities of arms and ammunition including light machine guns, sub machine guns mortars, RPGs and M-70 assault rifles. It was Christmas for the LTTE. TNA attacks were allegedly aimed at prolonging IPKF presence in Sri Lanka. State minister for defence the late Ranjan Wijeratne was to call Perumal a 'mad man' after the TNA attacked the Kalmunai rest house housing an army camp.

Nonetheless on February 28 1990, EPRLF's Varatharajah Perumal hosted a farewell for the IPKF soldiers. Liquor flowed freely. He was in a jolly mood. Something big is going to happen he warned. Next day the council of which he was chief minister met. Perumal moved a five page resolution converting the northeastern provincial council into a constituent state assembly for the purpose of drafting a constitution of the Eelam democratic republic which would take effect from March 1, 1990, if the Sri Lankan government failed to implement a charter of 19 demands submitted on February 25. The sole UNP MP walked out. The Muslim Congress kept away from the meeting. Yet not ten days would pass after the Eelam Declaration before its architect Varatharajah Perumal would flee the northeastern shores together with his wife and three daughters to Mauritius in an aircraft chartered by RAW.

In parliament according to Hansard, State Minister for Defence the late Ranjan Wijeratne said "I gave all the support to Varatharajah Perumal. I had all the co-ordinating meetings that it was scheduled to have. They are all minuted. I gave into everything that Varatharajah Perumal wanted, but he told me privately, 'I want a Tamil army." What For? Why do you want a Tamil Army in this multiracial country? Why do you want a Tamil Army? These are the dreams of these megalomaniacs like Varatharajah Perumal.."

Consider what happened at the time and then decide if this man Perumal is worthy of gaining a seat on the national list of any party. Consider the calibre of the man and then judge for yourself if the Peoples Alliance is not betraying the country it seeks to serve by placing such a man on its national list. It is quite obvious that he is an agent for some other power.

Take the newspapers of the day. In the Daily News of March 1, 1990. The All Ceylon Muslim League made a statement that it was shocked to read of the UDI by Varatharajah Perumal. The league further congratulated its vice president Al Haj Mashoor Moulana for having protested and walked out when the declaration was made.

Varatharajah Perumal meanwhile stated he was now not chief minister but a member of the Assembly. The NEPC had been calling itself the North Eastern Provincial Government (NEPG) for months before the Declaration of Independence in defiance of government directives.

At a press conference on March 2, he said "the constitution of the Eelam republic would be drafted within a year." He also stated that "if the Sri Lankan government attempted to obstruct their plans, it would have to bear the consequences and that the Sri Lanka army should be withdrawn from their land."

The Island of March 3, 1990 reported that Varatharaja Perumal had directed governor Lt. Gen. Nalin Seneviratne to tell president Premadasa to either take steps to implement the 19 demands already submitted to them or "take steps to withdraw Sri Lanka forces from our soil." "As members of the national State Assembly of Eelam for the next one year we will take steps to form the provisional government. We will meet on May 5, to draft a constitution and elect office bearers." Perumal said. Further Perumal took steps to issue quit notices and an ultimatum to the Sri Lanka police and security forces in the north east province to quit the region.

In an interview with the Island newspaper of 5/3/90 from Trincomalee he said he had indicated to state minister of defence Ranjan Wijeratne that the foreign forces (Sri Lanka Army) should be immediately moved out of the independent state of Eelam.

On March 7, 1990 it was reported in the Island newspaper that minister Wijeratne had noted that Varatharajah Perumal had violated the Constitution of Sri Lanka and if India was not backing him then India should remove all the security given him and take him away from Sri Lanka.

The parliamentary proceedings as reported on March 7 in The Island newspaper makes interesting reading. The late Dharmasiri Senanayake asks, "When will the TNA be disarmed?"

Late Ranjan Wijeratne: "The TNA would be disarmed when the IPKF leaves. They are running with the IPKF. They are street urchins who have been given AK 47 rifles."

D. M. Jayaratne (SLFP Kandy District) "Save the country."

Wijeratne: "Earlier you were saying save Gampola."

Jayaratne : "The masses entrusted the country to your government. If you can't save it hand it over to us. We will do the job."

Is this the way D. M. Jayaratne now Secretary General of the People's Alliance is going to do the job on behalf of the country. It was he who signed the final national list of the PA which included Varathrajah Perumal's name in it. Is this the way Jayaratne feels he and the government can 'do the job' on behalf of the people?

Take the sentiments of then opposition leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike also published in The Island of March 7,1990. "Ranjan Wijeratne is reported to have said that the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Varathrajah Perumal is a big joke. No Unilateral Declaration of Independence is a joke. What the EPRLF and the ENDLF whom the UNP government regularly defended has done today the LTTE can do with more force tomorrow. ..No sane government can afford to ignore Perumal's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. The UNP government must wake up from its dream world and face reality.."

Consider again The Chief minister's words to The Sunday Times published on March 11, 1990. He said that he had not received any military training so far. But he would have himself trained by experts so that he could lead the future struggle of the Democratic Republic of Eelam. He stated he would seek foreign support for his struggle to secure his objectives. The Sunday Times also reported him as saying that following the total withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force he would like to continue his campaign in association with other Tamil groups "Our plans for the struggle ahead are secret," Even if I were to leave the country for a short while the struggle for Eelam will continue"

Indeed what are these secret plans. Has Perumal now come back to Sri Lanka with the blessing of the Indian government to implement his secret plans together with the Peoples Alliance who are now being backed by the Indians.

The Sunday Times in 1990 quoted a source close to the Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) as saying "We are here to support Mr. Perumal. When the IPKF leaves it does not mean that Perumal will disappear from the political arena of the north East. We will stand by him."