Anton Balasingham

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Anton Balasingham

Anton Stanislaus Balasingham (1938-December 14, 2006) was the chief political strategist and chief negotiator of the separatist militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He was a British citizen of minority Tamil origin from Sri Lanka.

1 Biography
2 Tamil Tigers
3 Political views
- 3.1 Reuters interview
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biography

He was born in Jaffna in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominated Northern Province of Sri Lanka. His father was a Hindu and mother a Roman Catholic. His father also hailed from Eastern province where as his mother was a native Jaffna Tamil. Although brought up a Christian, he became an atheist in his adult life.

Subsequent to his graduation from school in Jaffna, he worked as a journalist in a Colombo newspaper and as a translator at the British High Commission in Colombo. Balasingham was initially married to a Sri Lankan Tamil. After she died due to the complications of chronic renal failure, he married Adele Ann Wilby in London, UK, in 1978. Adele, an Australian citizen and a nurse by professional training, became a prominent member of the women’s wing of the LTTE.

In the past, Adele herself has been involved in the peace talks, as the secretary of the LTTE delegation. In April 2002, Anton Balasingaham appeared alongside LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in a rare press conference in the LTTE held town of Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka.

From the Thimpu talks in 1985 to the first round of the Geneva talks held on February 22-23, 2006 Balasingham was the head of the LTTE delegation in all the peace negotiations with the government of Sri Lanka.^[1]^[2] He suffered from diabetes, Motor Neurone Disease, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, and possibly medicine-induced bile duct cancer.^[3].

He died due to terminal cancer on December 14, 2006. [1]. He was 68.

[edit] Tamil Tigers

Balasingham was associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from its inception more than 30 years ago and had been a political adviser to reclusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the TamilNet Web site said.

Balasingham has represented the rebel group in peace talks with successive Sri Lankan governments since 1985, after a violent separatist war flared up in 1983.

Until his death Thursday, he played a key role in the peace process initiated after Norway brokered a cease-fire between the government and the rebel group in 2002.

Balasingham attempted to transform the rebel group's militaristic image into a political one. He wrote speeches and statements for the shadowy guerrilla leader and led an international propaganda campaign for the rebels.

Balasingham took part in a round of peace talks in Switzerland in February but could not participate in an October round because of ill health.

In November, Balasingham was diagnosed with cancer.

[edit] Political views

[edit] Reuters interview

Balasingham warned on March 22, 2006 that if "paramilitaries continue to launch military offensive operations against the LTTE with the backing of the Sri Lankan armed forces, it will certainly be construed as an act of war against the LTTE." He threatened to postpone peace negotiations set for April if the Sri Lankan government did not disarm paramilitary groups. Balasingham was interviewed by Reuters in his home in London, England. In the interview Balasingham said Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa needed to end his alliance with Sinhala nationalist politicians, and ally with the opposition United National Party political party.^[4]

Balasingham went on to say that attacks would "lead to conditions of war and violence and it will block any forward movement of the peace talks and lead to the collapse of the peace process itself. The LTTE leadership will consider postponing the second round (of talks), or they might even think of attending the talks and continue to insist on the same (disarmament) theme that was taken up at the first round. So there won't be any forward movement of the talks if these paramilitaries are not disarmed."^[4]

Balasingham said the LTTE's objective in the peace negotiations is to "seek out a climate of de-escalation and normalization, which is a necessary condition for resuming serious talks on the political issues. Rather than bring in these crazy Marxists and mad monks under the slogan of inclusiveness, the only way out of this mess is for Rajapaksa to work out some form of alliance with the UNP."^[4]

Commenting on President Rajapaksa's unwillingness to accept "the demand of the Tamils for regional autonomy," Balasingham said that there was no "prospect for a political solution" and that if "internal self-determination is rejected, then only we will invoke the right to external self-determination - that is the right to form an independent state."^[4]