Velupillai Prabhakaran | |
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வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் | |
 Prabhakaran in 2006 | |
| Born | (1954-11-26)26 November 1954 |
| Died | 18 May 2009(2009-05-18) (aged 54) Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka |
| Cause of death | Killed in action[4] |
| Other names | Karikalan
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| Occupation(s) | Founder & leader of theTamil New Tigers in 1972 andLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. |
| Known for | Tamil nationalism,National Leader of Tamil Eelam, Military Tactics.[5] |
| Criminal charge(s) | Planningassassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991[6][7] Colombo Central Bank bombing of 1996[7] |
| Criminal penalty | Arrest warrant issued byColombo High Court[8] Death warrant issued byMadras High Court,India.[9] Sentenced to 200 years imprisonment by Colombo High Court.[7][10] |
| Spouse | Mathivathani Erambu (1984–2009) |
| Children | Charles Anthony (1989–2009)[11] Duvaraga (1986–2009)[12] Balachandran (1997–2009)[13] |
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| Sri Lankan Tamils |
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Velupillai Prabhakaran[a] (26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankanguerrilla and a major figure ofTamil nationalism, being the founder and leader of theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE was a militant organization that sought to create an independentTamil state in the north and east ofSri Lanka in reaction to theoppression of the country's Tamil population by theSri Lankan government.[14][15][16] Under his direction, the LTTE undertooka military campaign against the Sri Lankan government for more than 25 years.
Prabhakaran was the youngest of four children, born inValvettithurai, on Sri Lanka'sJaffna peninsula's northern coast. Considered the heart of Tamil culture andliterature in Sri Lanka, Jaffna was concentrated with growingTamil nationalism, which called for autonomy for Tamils to protest the discrimination against them by theSinhalese-dominatedSri Lankan state and Sinhalese civilians since the country'sindependence from the United Kingdom in 1948.[17]
Founded in 1976, after the1974 Tamil conference killings by Sri Lankan government police, the LTTE came to prominence in 1983 afterit ambushed a patrol of theSri Lanka Army outside Jaffna, resulting in the deaths of 13 soldiers. This ambush, along with thesubsequent pogrom that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Tamil civilians, is generally considered the start of theSri Lankan Civil War. After years of fighting, including theintervention of theIndian Army (IPKF), the conflict was halted after international mediation in 2001. By then, the LTTE, which came to be known as the Tamil Tigers, controlled large swathes of land in the north and east of the country, running ade facto state with Prabhakaran as its leader.[18] Peace talks eventually broke down, and the Sri Lanka Army launched amilitary campaign to defeat the LTTE in 2006.
Prabhakaran, who had said, "I would prefer to die in honour rather than being caught alive by the enemy",[19] was killed in a firefight with the Sri Lankan Army in May 2009.[20] Charles Anthony, his eldest son, was also killed.[20] Additionally, the bodies of his wife and daughter were reportedly found by the Sri Lankan army; the Sri Lankan government later denied the report.[21] His 12-year-old second son was executed a short time later.[22] Prabhakaran's reported death and the subsequent ceasefire announcement bySelvarasa Pathmanathan, the Tigers' chief of international relations, brought an end to the armed conflict.[23]
A significant figure ofSri Lankan Tamil nationalism, Prabhakaran is often seen as a martyr by Sri Lankan Tamils. However, he is acknowledged to have created one of the most ruthless and sophisticated insurgencies of the modern era, with many of the tactics he pioneered influencing political militant groups globally.[24] Prabhakaran himself argued that he chose military means only after observing that nonviolent means were ineffectual and obsolete, especially after the Tamil Eelam revolutionaryThileepan's fatalhunger strike in 1987 had no effect. Influenced by Indian nationalistsSubhas Chandra Bose andBhagat Singh, both of whom participated in therevolutionary movement for Indian independence, Prabhakaran declared that his goal was 'revolutionarysocialism and the creation of an egalitarian society'.[25]
Velupillai Prabhakaran was born in the northern coastal town ofValvettithurai on 26 November 1954, the youngest of four children.[26][27] His parents, Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and Vallipuram Parvathy, belonged to theKaraiyar community.[28][29][30] Thiruvenkadam Velupillai was the District Land Officer in the Ceylon Government.[27][31] He came from an influential and wealthy family who owned and managed the majorHindu temples in Valvettithurai.[32][33]
Angered by thediscrimination andviolent persecution against Tamil people by successive Sri Lankan governments, Prabhakaran joined the student groupTamil Youth Front (TYF) during thestandardisation debates.[34] In 1972, he founded theTamil New Tigers (TNT),[27][35] a successor to many earlier organizations that protested against the post-colonial political direction of the country, in which the minoritySri Lankan Tamils were pitted against the majoritySinhalese people.[36][37]
In 1975, after becoming heavily involved in the Tamil movement, he carried out the first major political assassination by a Tamil group, shootingAlfred Duraiappah, the mayor ofJaffna, at point-blank range in front of the Hindu temple at Ponnaalai. The assassination was in response to the killings of Tamils in the1974 Tamil conference incident, for which Duraiappah was blamed[38] due to having backed the then-rulingSri Lanka Freedom Party.[39]
In the early 1970s, United Front government ofSirimavo Bandaranaike introduced thepolicy of standardisation which made the criteria for university admission lower for theSinhalese than for the Tamils.[40] Several organizations to counter this act were formed by Tamil students. Prabhakaran, aged 15, dropped out of school and became associated with theKuttimani-Thangathurai group (which evolved later intoTELO) formed bySelvarajah Yogachandran (known as Kuttimani) andNadarajah Thangathurai who both also hailed from Valvettithurai.[41]
Prabhakaran along withKuttimani,Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran and other prominent rebels joined theTamil Manavar Peravai formed by a student namedSatiyaseelan in 1970. This group comprised Tamil youth who advocated the rights of students to have fair enrollment.[42][note 1] In 1973, Prabhakaran teamed up withChetti Thanabalasingam and with a fraction of the Tamil Manavar Peravai to form theTamil New Tigers (TNT).[44][45] Their first notable attack was held at the Duraiappa stadium inJaffna placing a bomb in an attempt to murder the Jaffna MayorAlfred Duraiappah.[46] A member of theSri Lanka Freedom Party who was loyal to Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Duraiappah was seen as a traitor by the Tamil masses.[47] Failing the attempt, Prabhakaran managed to shoot and kill Duraiappah who was on a visit at a Hindu temple at Ponnalai on 27 July 1975.[48]
On 5 May 1976, the TNT was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as theTamil Tigers.[49]
The LTTE by the 1980s operated in more attacks against police and military forces. On 23 July 1983, the LTTE ambushed an army patrol and killed 13 Sri Lankan soldiers inThirunelveli, Sri Lanka.[47] As a response to this were one of the worst government sponsoredanti-Tamil riots held (the event known asBlack July) resulting in the destruction of Tamil houses and shops and deaths of hundreds of Tamils and making over 150,000 Tamils homeless.[50][51] As a result of the riots several Tamils joining the LTTE and the LTTE marked the beginning of theEelam War I.[52] With Prabhakaran being the most wanted man in Sri Lanka,[53] he had said in 1984, "I would prefer to die in honour rather than being caught alive by the enemy."[54] Prabhakaran held his first speech on 4 August 1987 at theSuthumalai Amman temple in front of over 100,000 people explaining the position of the LTTE.[55] This speech is seen as a historic turning point in theSri Lankan Tamil nationalism.[56] In the same year,Asiaweek compared Prabhakaran to revolutionaryChe Guevara, whileNewsweek called him "the stuff of legend".[57]
The LTTE were allegedly involved in theassassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the ex-prime minister of India in 1991, which they denied involvement and alleged the event as an international conspiracy against them.[58][59] However, in a 2011 interview,Kumaran Pathmanathan, who was the Treasurer of LTTE and its chief arms procurer, apologized to India for Velupillai Prabhakaran's "mistake" of killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He further said Rajiv's assassination was "well planned and done actually with Prabhakaran and (LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman). Everyone knows the truth".[60] The TADA Court issued an arrest warrant for plotting of the assassination ofRajiv Gandhi. In October 2010 the charges against Prabhakaran were dropped by the TADA Court after theCentral Bureau of Investigation filed a report stating that he was dead and the case was closed.[61][62][63]
Prabhakaran's first and only major press conference was held inKillinochchi on 10 April 2002.[64] It was reported that more than 200 journalists from the local and foreign media attended this event and they had to go through a 10-hour security screening before the event in whichAnton Balasingham introduced the LTTE leader as the"President and PrimeMinister of Tamil Eelam." A number of questions were asked about LTTE's commitment towards the erstwhile peace process and Prabhakaran and Dr. Anton Balasingham jointly answered the questions. Repeated questions about his involvement in theRajiv Gandhi assassination were only answered in a sober note by both Balasingham and Prabhakaran. They called it a "tragic incident" ("Thunbiyal Chambavam", as quoted in Tamil) they requested the press "not to dig into an incident that happened 10 years ago."[65]
During the interview, he stated that the right condition has not risen to give up the demand of Tamil Eelam. He further mentioned that "There are three fundamentals. That is Tamil homeland, Tamil nationality and Tamil right to self-determination. These are the fundamental demands of the Tamil people. Once these demands are accepted or a political solution is put forward by recognising these three fundamentals and our people are satisfied with the solutions we will consider giving up the demand for Eelam." He further added that Tamil Eelam was not only the demand of the LTTE but also the demand of the Tamil people.[64]
Prabhakaran also answered a number of questions in which he reaffirmed their commitment towards the peace process, quoted "We are sincerely committed to the peace process. It is because we are sincerely committed to peace that we continued a four month cessation of hostilities". He was also firm in de-proscription of the LTTE by Sri Lanka and India, "We want the government of India to lift the ban on the LTTE. We will raise the issue at the appropriate time."
Prabhakaran also insisted firmly that only de-proscription would bring forth an amenable solution to the ongoing peace process mediated byNorway: "We have informed the government, we have told the Norwegians that de-proscription is a necessary condition for the commencements of talks."[66][67]
When the Sri Lankan military rapidly advanced into the last LTTE held territory in the final days of2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive, Prabhakaran and his top leadership retreated into Vellamullivaikkal,Mullaitivu. Fierce fighting occurred between LTTE and theSri Lanka Army during these last few days. At around 3:00 a.m. on 18 May 2009, Prabhakaran's son Charles Anthony tried to break the defenses of the Army, but was unsuccessful. He died along with around 100 other LTTE fighters. Troops found 12 million rupees in his possession.[20] By noon that day, reports emerged that Prabhakaran was killed by a rocket attack while trying to flee the conflict zone in a captured ambulance and his body was badly burned.[68] But this rumour was proven false in a short while. Skirmishes occurred also in the evening of 18 May around eastern bank of Nandikadal lagoon. A team of LTTE cadres consisting of 30 most loyal bodyguards of Prabhakaran and Prabhakaran himself tried to sneak through the mangrove islands of Nandikadal to its west bank. It has been alleged that one bodyguard had a can of gasoline with him to burn the Tiger leader's body if he was killed or committed suicide. This was to prevent the enemy seizing his body.[69] Clearing and mopping-up operations were carried out by troops underColonel G. V. Ravipriya from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm that evening, but they did not encounter this last group of LTTE fighters that day. At 7:30 am next morning, mopping-up operations started again. This time, they were confronted by the fighters, led by Prabhakaran himself. Fighting went on until 9:30 am 19 May 2009. The firing stopped as all LTTE fighters died in the battle. Troops started collecting bodies again. This time,Sergeant Muthu Banda, attached to Sri Lanka Army Task Force VIII, reported to Ravipriya that a body similar to Prabhakaran's had been found. After the body, which was floating among the mangroves, was brought ashore, Colonel Ravipriya positively identified it as that of the leader of the LTTE.[20] A dog tag marked001, two pistols, aT56 rifle with telescopic sight, asatellite phone, and a canister filled with diabetic medicine were found along with the body.
At 12:15 pm army commanderSarath Fonseka officially announced Prabhakaran's death on TV. At around 1:00 pm his body was shown inSwarnavahini for the first time.[70] Prabakaran's identity was confirmed byKaruna Amman, his former confidant, and through DNA testing against genetic material from his son, who had been killed earlier by the Sri Lankan military.[71] Circumstantial evidence suggested that his death was caused by massive head trauma; several claims on his death have been made and it's alleged that his death was due to a shot at close range. There are also allegations that he was executed, a claim vehemently denied by Sri Lankan authorities. Karuna Amman claimed Prabhakaran shot himself but it was denied by Fonseka who claimed the injury was from shrapnel citing the lack of an exit wound.[72] A week later, the new Tamil Tiger leader,Selvarasa Pathmanathan, admitted that Prabhakaran was dead.[73][74][75]
Despite the announcement of his death by both the Government and LTTE remnants, certain groups and media have claimed that Prabhakaran survived the war and managed to escape. In 2009 a Tamil website showed an image showing Prabhakaran viewing a news report of his death in TV which was sent toFrance 24 as proof of his survival. But France 24 noted that the photo appeared to be photoshopped.[76] In 2010 Pro-LTTE website TamilWin claimed that the body of Prabhakaran shown belonged to a Sri Lankan soldier showing images of a Prabhakaran look-alike in the Sri Lankan army.[77] The theory of Prabhakaran's survival is also supported by Tamil Nadu politicianVaiko who claims Prabhakaran would emerge from hiding at the right time.[78] The claim of Prabhakaran's survival was reiterated in 2023 by Indian activistPazha Nedumaran, who declared through a press conference held at Thanjavur that the slain leader of LTTE is "still alive and doing well" and that he has been in contact with Prabhakaran's family. The claim was rejected by Sri Lanka which issued a statement stating that Prabhakaran's corpse had been confirmed by his close associates as well as DNA testing.[79][80]
Prabhakaran was influenced by prominent Indian nationalistsSubhas Chandra Bose andBhagat Singh, both of whom participated in therevolutionary movement for Indian independence.[81] Prabhakaran never developed a systematic philosophy, but did declare that his goal was 'revolutionary socialism and the creation of an egalitarian society'. His rare interviews, his annual Tamil Eelam Heroes Day speeches and the LTTE's policies and actions can be taken as indicators of Prabhakaran's philosophy and ideology. Religion was not a major factor in his philosophy or ideology; the Tamil Tigers' ideology emerged fromMarxist-Leninist thought and was explicitly secular. Its leadership professed opposition to religion.[82][83][84] It focused single-mindedly on attaining an independent Tamil Eelam. The following are important aspects of Prabhakaran's philosophy and ideology.
Prabhakaran is often seen as amartyr to the Eelam Tamil people.[57] His source of inspiration and direction wasEelam Tamil nationalism, and his stated and ultimate ideal was to getTamil Eelam recognised as anation as per the U.N. Charter that guarantees the right of a people to political independence.[85] The LTTE also proposed the formation of anInterim Self Governing Authority during Peace Negotiations in 2003. Former Tamil guerrilla and politicianDharmalingam Sithadthan has remarked that Prabhakaran's "dedication to the cause of theTamil Eelam was unquestionable, he was the only man in Sri Lanka who could decide if there should be war or peace."[86]
Prabhakaran explicitly stated that an armed struggle is the only way to resistasymmetric warfare, in which one side, that of the Sri Lankan government, is armed and the other comparatively unarmed. He argued that he chose military means only after observing thatnon–violent means have been ineffectual and obsolete, especially after theThileepan incident. Thileepan, a Lt. colonel rank officer adoptedGandhian means to protest against the IPKF killings by staging a fast unto death from 15 September 1987, and by abstaining from food or water until 26 September, when he died in front of thousands of Tamils who had come there to fast along with him.[87]
Tactically, Prabhakaran perfected the recruitment and use ofsuicide bomber units. His fighters usually took no prisoners and were notorious for assaults that often left every single enemy soldier dead.[86]Interpol described him as someone who was "very alert, known to use disguise and capable of handling sophisticated weaponry and explosives."[86] He was called a "military genius" by western military experts.[88][89][90][5]
Prabhakaran was married to Mathivathani Erambu on 1 October 1984 at Tirupporur, near Chennai.[91][92][93] The military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said in May 2009 that there was no information about the whereabouts of the remaining members of Prabhakaran's family. "We have not found their bodies and have no information about them," he said.[94] It is thought that the entire family was wiped out; the bodies of Mathivathani, Duvaraga and Balachandran reportedly were found in a bushy patch about 600 meters away from where Prabhakaran's body was found.[95] It is now alleged that his 12-year-old son was executed.[96]
Prabhakaran's parents, Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and Parvathi, both in their 70s, were found in theMenik Farmcamp for displaced people near the town of Vavuniya. The Sri Lankan military and the government gave public assurances that they would not be interrogated, harmed or ill-treated.[97] They were taken into Sri Lankan military custody until Vellupillai's death in January 2010.[98] Prabhakaran has a sister, Vinodini Rajendaran.[99][100]
One of Prabhakaran's personal bodyguards wasCaptain Mayuran (Saba), who served in his close protection unit in the early 1990s and was killed in the Battle of Pooneryn in 1993.[101]
Prabhakaran had over the years built up the LTTE into a powerful movement running a shadow state and had acquired the status of being "Thesiya Thalaivar" (National Leader of the Land).[102] He was calledthambi, meaning "younger brother", by Eelam Tamil elders, which was also his pet name since he was the youngest in his family.[103] He was also called asAnna/Annai, meaning 'elder brother' by his younger cadets and the younger Eelam Tamil people.[104] Prabhakaran was also called "Karikalan" for his bravery and his administration (in reference toKarikala Chola, a famousChola king who ruled inSangam Age). He was additionally raised to divine status asSooriyathevan (God of the Sun) by his followers. This was a title used by some of his supporters and within the LTTE to emphasize his leadership and charisma. It is important to note that Prabhakaran was a controversial figure and his moniker as "Sooriyathevan" was symbolic rather than a religious or widely accepted title.[102]
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