TGTE Cabinet

by N.P.Karunadasa

(November 16, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to a news item appearing in The Island on 10th November 2010, the LTTE rump operating in the US has formed a ‘cabinet’ for a Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) made up of a ‘Prime Minister’, three ‘Deputy Prime Ministers’ and seven ‘Ministers’ each having their own portfolios. V. Rudrakumaran has been ‘sworn in’ as the ‘Prime Minister’. The news item further says that this so called ‘cabinet’ has already begun having meetings in the US with the participation of invitees and the US media.

I see this as yet another ploy to perpetuate the luxurious life styles the Tamil diaspora has been enjoying over the past several years. After getting used to such comforts and extravagance for such a long time they know that they (specially their offspring) cannot easily fit into Sri Lankan society. They were able to hoodwink their host countries in order to get political asylum on the pretext that they won’t be safe back in Sri Lanka. But the whole world knows that the situation has changed for the better in Sri Lanka now. Therefore the Tamil diaspora feels that they may be compelled to return to Sri Lanka.

The other reason behind the formation of this so called cabinet is to enable Rudrakumaran et al to have access to the vast wealth accumulated by the LTTE over the years and to keep the funding avenues running. The contribution from the diaspora towards setting up the dream homeland of Tamil Eelam is said to be drying up at an alarming rate. It is reported that it has come down to a mere trickle of around 10 to 15 percent of what it had been at the height of the LTTE’s power.

The US has once again displayed its double standards by allowing this to happen on its soil. But the question is what action has our ambassador taken about this development? Is he not aware of and concerned about the extent of the damage that could accrue to the image of Sri Lanka by these antics of the LTTE rump? Or is he waiting for the President to go all the way to the US and do something about it?

What with the internecine warfare going on among the factions of the LTTE rump, we shouldn’t be surprised if Nadiyavan forms another TGTE ‘cabinet’ in Norway and our ambassador there keeps mum about the whole thing!