This book is a different way to look at the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government’s response. There is a lot to be said about the LTTE… what started out as a genuine resistance movement against perceived discrimination of the Sri Lankan Tamils, became a separatist movement and a guerrilla force. From a guerrilla force it started to resemble conventional armed forces.
Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of Bharat during the height of the conflict … and he paid for his ill-informed misadventures with his life. An LTTE suicide-bomber Dhanu killed him in 1991 as he was arriving to address an election rally in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. A dark chapter in the political history of our country.
The book seems to be inspired by the events that happened during the civil war.
Operation Tigerhunt – Summary
The central character is Sundari, a smart, beautiful Sri Lankan Tamil girl who has a great knowledge of the smuggling routes between Sri Lanka and India. The RAW officer Avinash has to rescue some of his agents that are trapped in Sri Lanka.
Avinash hears from one of his spies that the Sri Lankan government is planning an all-out assault on the LTTE in order to finish off the civil war. (They did do it in 2009). A small unit of Indian army para commandos and the smugglers group led by Sundari have to work together in order to accomplish the rescue mission.
Many things go wrong… Sri Lankan army and the LTTE are gunning for the Indian spies in Sri Lanka and succeed in killing some of them. During the rescue operation, Sundari loses her best friend, a para commando is also killed besides several LTTE members. There is an interesting twist at the end, where Sundari is briefly reunited with her brother but under terrible circumstances…. her brother tries to kill her not knowing that she is his sister.
It’s a fast paced novel and very well written. Just about 160 pages so it’s a quick read.
Reading this book reminded me of our trip to Sri Lanka last year. I still have to write about so many places that we visited… Such a beautiful country. Just hoping and praying that everyone comes together to make Sri Lanka stronger as a nation.
My rating – 5/5.