 On the eve of Tiger guerrilla leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's 53rd birthday last year, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, told Agence France Presse (AFP) news agency, "if all goes to plan it will be his last." Evidently, things did not go to plan. The guerrilla leader has survived that threat. His cadres are busy in the Mullaitivu district preparing for the 54th birthday on November 26. Notwithstanding the war, in practically every village there, civilian committees have been set up to devise plans for celebrations on a large scale. |
There are strong indications that the Tiger guerrillas are coming under heavy military pressure on many fronts.
The latest came yesterday. Troops backed by main battle tanks and helicopter gunships made a pre-dawn foray southwards into Tiger guerrilla defences in the now shut down Muhamalai entry exit point. Heavy fighting broke out and both sides suffered casualties. The battles continue. There were reports that the guerrillas carried out gas attacks. 
I was particularly glad to note Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's mention at the recent summit of BIMSTEC- some countries in the periphery of the Bay of Bengal and a couple farther away-that it represented the link between South Asia and South East Asia.
Several critics have characterised the budget as one which was leaning towards socialism. This view was largely based on the budgetary measures to control imports, add new taxes and impose cesses on some imports.
For months it was the high oil prices in the world market that was the excuse trotted out for the increase in prices of essential goods, which most people had to grin and bear. And now a global recession has set in affecting the most affluent of societies and people here are told that we have to consider ourselves fortunate that the country is not in the same predicament as any of our counterparts, at least not yet, all due to the wise economic policies set in motion by President Mahinda Rajapkasa. 
When the UN held a virtual summit meeting on "culture of peace" last week, most of the world leaders who addressed the General Assembly were from Muslim countries who were concerned about the spread of Islamophobia -- specifically in Europe. The meeting, which focused on inter-religious and inter-cultural understanding, was an initiative of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who apparently convinced his co-religionists to participate in the summit.