When the former LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham tendered an apology to Northern Muslims for the LTTE eviction in 1990, twelve years after the episode; many doubted the genuineness of his declaration.

The sudden interest by the LTTE in mending fences with the Muslims after the long overdue apology was seen as a move aimed at giving a much needed facelift to the LTTE at a time it was preparing to enter peace talks.

It was also with a pinch of salt that the Muslims took the LTTE’s repeated claims that the latter considered the North and East as homeland for both Tamils and Muslims.

The memories of the eviction and hundreds of massacres carried out by the LTTE against the Muslims especially in Kaththankudy, Eravur and Palliyagodella areas and other forms of atrocities made it extremely difficult for Muslims to trust the organization though Muslim leaders from time to time tried to reach out to the LTTE. The LTTE, which learnt the hard way the strategic importance of being in the good books of Muslims, avoided carrying out major attacks on Muslims lately.

Against this backdrop yesterday’s LTTE attack during the national Meelad festival in Matara justifies all the doubts the Muslims had on LTTE intentions. It would have come as a shocker to some but not for those who closely monitored the way the LTTE treated its ilk, the Tamil civilians during the last couple of months.

The way the Tigers trapped the civilians and used them as shields paying scant regard to their security proved that here’s a group which has very little sympathy for its own people. That being the case, how can one expect the LTTE to be sympathetic towards another community?

In its desperation to get a VIP target what the LTTE has displayed is that it has absolutely no respect for the religious concerns of the Muslim community or for that matter any community and that it is prepared to launch an attack even on religious ceremonies as long as it can hog headlines.

Although the VIPs who attended the event survived the attack the news that the LTTE has launched a suicide attack in a southern most area of the country killing ten people has already made international headlines. The pro-Tiger elements may even interpret the incident as the beginning of a Tiger bounce back.

For the LTTE, which is now restricted to a 35 sq km-narrow strip of land, this certainly is some achievement while the security lapse on the part of the VIP security is evident by the fact that some VIPs still take their security for granted putting the lives of many others in danger.

The National Meelad festival may not have had the endorsement of all Muslim groups and many object on the grounds that celebrating the birthday of the Holy Prophet was never part of the true tradition of Islam. However that does not make the LTTE attack on the religious event any less disgraceful.

(Daily Mirror Editorial - 11/03/2009)