The release claimed, however, "Our program and efforts in this regard are fundamentally democratic."
After Pathmanathan’s arrest on August 5, 2009, in Malaysia and his subsequent transportation to Sri Lanka, the task of taking the TGTE effort forward has been shouldered by Rudrakumaran alone. On May 17, 2010, Rudrakumaran disclosed, in a Press statement, that the TGTE would hold its inaugural sessions in the city of Philadelphia in the United States (US) for three days between May 17 and 19, to coincide with the first year remembrance of the military suppression of the LTTE. The communiqué stated that TGTE "will continue its struggle until conditions are created which will enable the Tamils to realize their right to self determination and exercise their sovereignty."
Rudrakumaran, who was the co-ordinator of the TGTE formation committee, was elected as its Interim Chief Executive at the meeting, and a seven member Interim Executive Committee (IEC) was also formed. The IEC members included Mahinthan Sivasubramanium, Sam Sangarasivam, Gerard Francis, Selva Selvanathan, Vithya Jeyashanker, Sasithar Maheswaran and Janarthanan Pulendran.
The TGTE meeting at Philadelphia was the result of a year-long effort by influential pro- LTTE elements of the global Tamil diaspora to create an organisation representing more than a million Tamils of Sri Lankan origin dispersed in different parts of the world. The TGTE, in a sense, is a re-branded manifestation of the LTTE overseas structure. Like LTTE, its ultimate goal is the creation of ‘Tamil Eelam’. Although it does not unambiguously endorse the LTTE, the TGTE’s commitment towards the LTTE was established clearly at the Philadelphia summit, where LTTE flags waved in profusion, despite the fact that the LTTE is a banned foreign terrorist organization in the US.
The establishment of the TGTE, however, has done little to stem the internecine conflicts within LTTE diaspora elements. The struggle to establish control has resulted in a rise of extremist rhetoric and postures, with the TGTE itself becoming more and more hawkish. Although Rudrakumaran is frequently referred to as the new leader of the LTTE in sections of the media, the reality has been somewhat ambiguous. The overseas LTTE structure has been deeply divided since Prabhakaran’s death. Political commentator D.B.S. Jeyaraj divided the successor organisations of the LTTE into three factions, the TGTE, Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and Tamil Eelam Peoples Assembly (TEPA), also known, respectively, as the KP or Rudra faction, the GTF or Father S.J. Emmanuel faction and the Makkal Peravai or Nediyavan faction.
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Resettlement, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, a former top LTTE ‘commander’, has also underscored the fact that the Tamil diaspora was divided and had conflicting views on the so-called TGTE. Muralitharan argues that the Tamil diaspora would fail to make a significant impact internationally, because of internal dissensions. He identified three principal diaspora factions – the US-based Rudrakumaran group, the Norway-based Nediyavan faction and the London-based British Tamil Forum.
Significantly, Thambiah Ganesh and Kuppilan Ravi, believed to be members of the Nediyavan group, were arrested in Paris on June 4, following the death of Ramesh Sivarupan, believed to be a member of the Rudrakumaran faction. Sources indicate that Sivarupan was abducted and taken in a van from his residence in Paris and was later found near his house with injuries, to which he succumbed at a hospital in Paris on June 3. Earlier in the week, the Nediyavan faction had burnt thousands of copies of Thainilam, a newspaper in Paris printed by the Rudrakumaran faction.
Besides internal differences, there is widespread scepticism about the TGTE exercise. To be, in any measure, relevant to the Tamils, the TGTE would have to have a public presence in Sri Lanka, but has no foothold there, and it is extremely doubtful that it will be able to establish any such presence. As Muralitharan notes, "How can they set up a separate State without the support of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka? ...They (the Tamils in Sri Lanka) detest the LTTE for having destroyed them. No pro-LTTE element will get the support of the Tamils to set up a separate State in Sri Lanka now."
Meanwhile, there appears to be some urgency in the Government establishment’s efforts to develop the war ravaged areas of North and East. Economic activity in the north has picked up, though, in the long term, development alone will not satisfy Sri Lanka’s Tamils. Basic aspirations for equity and for a restoration of trust and security would have to be met before the country’s ‘Tamil problem’ can be thought of as having been resolved. Colombo has to work out a reasonable political package that will satisfy Sri Lanka’s minorities, something that President Mahinda Rajapakse has repeatedly promised. The Government would also need to take stock of its role in past conflict, in particular, its record of manipulating ethnic tensions for electoral gain. It is significant that the militant Tamil diaspora was created by the policies and actions of successive Administrations in Colombo.
The LTTE is still banned in 32 countries across the world, and its diaspora organisations are yet to secure significant traction abroad, or consolidate linkages with LTTE survivor groupings in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the aspirations for an independent Tamil Eelam are being kept alive, and extremist activity, while marginal, persists. These impulses will continue to seek opportunities for a future crystallization, and both Colombo and governments abroad – particularly India – will have to exercise the utmost vigilance to ensure that a terrorist movement is not able to take root again, even while fullest freedom for democratic engagement is permitted to peaceful Tamil groupings.