Each movement needs leaders to articulate their cause to sympathetic ears in the West (it is the dregs of their society - the plumbers, sweepers, barbers, etc, who do the dirty work of shooting and bombing). These people base themselves in foreign capitals, and avail of the best that the globe has to offer - whether it be universities in the USA, skiing vacations in Switzerland, and lucrative business opportunities at the millenium's modern marketplaces. As they are wanted in their native countries, there is no question of returning home, and none seem perturbed at the prospect of their movements lasting indefinitely.

Take Anton Balasingham of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), for instance. He used to live in Paris (where the LTTE publicity headquarters is located) and spent half his time in London; when duty called, he would even make the back-breaking trip to Geneva to harangue the United Nations organisation brainstorming the problems of the Third World. Needless to say, commuting to work for Anton must have been much more fun than squeezing into a Mumbai suburban train.

How about Isaac Swu of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN)? He lives it up in Bangkok, Thailand, and we all know what a fun time can be had in Bangkok for a fistful of baht. Mr Swu is often flying off to - no surprises - Geneva or London for work, though we do sympathise with him for having a longer commute than Anton. Furthermore, his two sons are reportedly enjoying a university education that perhaps no other Naga can enjoy (others sadly have to make do with Indian universities).

Then there are the leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir All Party Hurriyat Conference. Leading an insurgency that has taken too many lives, and which has burnt out ordinary Kashmiris, they are now propped up by the monies of a foreign nation (we're not telling which one). Though most of them, like Syed Ali Shah Gilani, have built up nice homes for themselves, they try to limit their conspicuous consumption and keep a lower profile than their Naga or Tamil counterparts. Instead, it is their wards who reap the fruits of terrorism.

Abdul Ghani Lone, for instance, the political chameleon who has traversed the ideological spectrum (he was once with the J&K National Conference, the Janata Party, and even the Congress party!), is a Hurriyat leader who has been espousing secession for the past nine years.

He has managed to set his children up quite nicely - daughter Shabnam is a Supreme Court advocate (while he denounced the Constitution, she argues Constitutional issues) who lives (with a very close girlfriend) in a prime south Delhi house that Papa acquired.

Son Bilal Lone, however, takes the cake - a former terrorist turned Gold importer-exporter, Bilal has emigrated to Dubai where he runs -- of all things -- a discotheque! So while Papa preaches a return to pristine Islam by driving away the infidel Indian State, the son encourages the pious to boogie-boogie-boogie with arabic babes (in tight dresses, we hope) till the early desert dawn. All the courtesy of Papa's hard-earned money, of course.

So who says that rebelling against monolithic nation-states doesn't pay? And is it any surprise that these people don't want their little wars to end - even if it means the further ravaging of Sri Lanka, the three decades of army presence in Nagaland, or the addition to the death toll of 20,000 in Kashmir?