Sathasivam Krishnakumar was interviewed by the British Refugee Council publication, the
Sri Lanka Monitor in April 1991 in London:
"In his time, Sathasivam Krishnakumar alias Kittu, leader of the LTTE's
International Wing in London, has fought on many fronts. A former military commander of
Jaffna, he lost a leg in a bomb blast and was imprisoned in Madras while negotiating for
the withdrawal of Indian troops from Sri Lanka.
Now he says India as the regional power can bring about a settlement between the Tigers
and Colombo by acting as a mediator rather than as a negotiator. Mr.Premadasa's three
preconditions for peace are impossible. Disarmament is especially impossible. The Tamils,
if not the Tigers, require a protective mechanism if they are not to be cheated in the
future as they have been in the past by successive Sinhala governments, he says.
A solution under Sri Lanka's unitary constitution is also a non starter and
Mr.Premadasa's invitation to participate in Provincial Councils, he regards as derisory.
The Tigers currently favour the associative structure mooted by European Community states
which preserves their sovereignty and cultural distinctiveness. Which demands perhaps a de
facto ceding of sovereignty by the Sri Lankan government or Eelam by any other name? He
smiles.
"The European states who participate in the European Community are not
prepared to give up their right to self determination. Neither are we. Self determination
is not a dirty word, it is an inalienable right".
Are these preconditions or prerequisites? "We also want peace", says Kittu,
"but we are not ready to give up our rights for that peace." Speaking in
Batticaloa in February, Mr.Premadasa promised the Tamils ellam (everything) in place of
Eelam. He should now say what that everything will be. (Courtesy Sri Lanka Monitor,
April 1991)
