The internationally scattered remnants of the Tamil Tigers have announced that they intend to form a new government. The statement comes less than a month after the Sri Lankan army routed the rebel group after the decades long conflict for an independent Tamil homeland.

Selvarajah Pathmanathan, one of the few remaining LTTE leaders, distributed a statement which gave the go ahead for “a provisional transnational government of Tamil Elam to take forward the next phase of the struggle”.

Reacting to the announcement, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said “imagination will lead to hallucinations”; in effect scoffing at the idea.

As a defeated force with little or no remaining political clout, the question remains whether the Tamil diaspora would even back such an idea.
 

Not viable
Charu Hogg, an associate fellow of the Asia programme at Chatham House in London, told RNW’s Newsline she is unconvinced that it is a viable proposition.

“It’s an unrealistic idea. The LTTE does not exist as a territorial force within Sri Lanka, they are not a cohesive force outside Sri Lanka. The mechanism that operated in terms of funding from the diaspora and the networks that existed prior to their defeat have been severely challenged. Who is this organisation representing and what is the format of transnational government that has no territory?”
 

The way forward?
And in terms of support from the Tamil diaspora, is this the way forward it is looking for?

“There is a lot of confusion in the diaspora on the best response.  A large majority are seeking accountability and discourse in genocide terms [following the recent conflict]. There is clearly no appetite for this in the international community and it is a damaging discourse in terms of reconciliation and peace and justice in Sri Lanka.”
 

Productive
Ms Hogg also wonders if any attempt by the diaspora to communicate with the Sri Lankan government through the platform of the LTTE would result in anything productive.

“I think the best bet is to support moderate Tamil opinion in Sri Lanka and put across a set of political concerns…of what they would actually like to see happen in Sri Lanka”. 
 

Listen to a Newsline interview with Charu Hogg:

Picture by Daniele Sartori (at flickr.com)