Anton Balasingham - Misplaced Pages

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Anton Balasingham
Occupation(s)	chief political strategist, chief negotiator
Spouse	Adele Ann Wilby

Anton Stanislaus Balasingham (March 4 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.

Biography

He was born in Jaffna on the 4th of March 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 Thimphu 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. But he could not participate in an October round because of ill health and few months after, In November 2006, Balasingham was diagnosed with cancer. He was suffered from diabetes, Motor Neurone Disease, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, and possibly medicine-induced bile duct cancer..

Tamil Tigers

Balasingham attempted to transform the militant group's militaristic image into a political one. He wrote speeches and statements for the shadowy guerrilla leader and led an international information campaign on behalf of the militant.

Political views

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.

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."

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."

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."

Funeral in London

Balasingham's body was at display at the Palace's great hall for seven hours on Wednesday, before his cremation at another venue. Thousands of tamils from all over Europe were seen to have been attending the funeral. The event was noted to have been a very somber, low-key event with the London tigers adopting a very low profile.Eric Solheim was a notable attendee.

Posters condemning the funeral extravaganza for Anton Balasingham were seen pasted all over Britain. The posters written in tamil were critical of the renting of the Palace's Great Hall at the cost of 8 millions of Sri Lankan rupees by the LTTE for the final funeral rites, while people in the north and east of Sri Lanka were facing possible death due to starvation.

Reactions

Government of Sri Lanka

The Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka commented "His life long achievement is considered to be his ability to manipulate peace negotiations and postpone them indefinitely under various ruses until his movement could raise enough funds from the Tamil Diaspora and rearm the Tamil Tiger cadres strong enough to face the Sri Lanka army." .

State Government of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi who in his controversial condolence message had stated "I am unable to bear the sorrow over the death of my friend Mr Anton Balasingham, who I have known for many years."

He was criticised by Dr. Subramanian Swamy a prominent Indian politician who is a staunch critic of the LTTE stating "Balasingham was a terrorist who at least once has publicly and arrogantly relished the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. In 1995 he had warned the then President of Sri Lanka, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga that she would face the same fate as Rajiv Gandhi if she confronted the LTTE." .

International Media

Priyath Liyanage the Editor of BBC Sinhala service wrote that Balasingham's death is a loss to both sides of the Sri Lankan civil war. He credited Balasingam as the only moderating force within an otherwise belligerent rebel group and the only man within the group that could criticize and influence the leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. He added that Balasingam was known for his relentless attempts to bring the Tigers to the international negotiating arena. It was mainly due to his perseverance that the Tigers acquired a reputation as a progressive organization among certain liberals in the west.

He also credited Balasingam with bringing the attention of the world to a forgotten war in this small island nation. Although Balasingham was plagued with physical ailments he valiantly attended all the peace talks. According to Liyanage, Balasingam’s death will be a blow not only to the Tamil Tigers but also to many in the south of the country as he provided a thread of hope for a peaceful resolution to the seemingly intractable and escalating conflict of Sri Lanka.

Death

He died due to terminal cancer on December 14, 2006 when he was 68.

References

"Anton Balasingham afflicted by rare cancer". TamilNet. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
"Ceasefire Talks". Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
"Anton Balasingham – will he or will he not lead LTTE delegation to Geneva talks?". Asiantribune. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
^ "Sinhala nationalist extremists obstacle to peace – Balasingham". TamilNet. Retrieved 2006-11-26.
"Anton Balasingham's body consigned to flames: End of recalcitrant diplomacy and autocratic politicking". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
"Posters condemn funeral show for Anton Balasingham". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20610

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