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People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam தமிழீழ மக்கள் விடுதலைக் கழகம் | |
|---|---|
| Leader | D. Siddarthan |
| Founder | Uma Maheswaran |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Split from | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam |
| Headquarters | 16 Haig Road, Bambalapiya,Colombo 4 |
| Electoral wing | Democratic People's Liberation Front |
| Ideology | Tamil nationalism |
| National affiliation | Democratic Tamil National Alliance |
| Parliament | 0 / 225 |
| Election symbol | |
| Anchor | |
| Party flag | |
.svg) | |
| Website | |
| plote.org | |
ThePeople's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a formerTamil militant group that had become a pro-governmentparamilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as theDemocratic People's Liberation Front.
PLOTE was founded in 1980 by an ex-surveyorUma Maheswaran alias Mukundan, who became itsgeneral secretary. He was the chairman of theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers or LTTE) from 1977 to 1980. He was trained inLebanon and later inSyria under thePalestinian nationalist organizationPopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[citation needed] After a bitter rivalry withVelupillai Prabhakaran, Uma Maheswaran left the LTTE in 1980 and formed PLOTE.[citation needed]
In late 1988, an attempted coup to overthrow theMaumoon Abdul Gayoom's government in Maldives with the help of mercenaries from PLOTE was foiled with assistance from the Indian Army and Navy.[1]
There have been suggestions that the PLOTE may have been promised one of the small Maldivian islands as a base, possibly for arms shipments. In a 2018 interview, Vetrichelvan PLOTE's former representative in New Delhi claims it was Athulathmudali, then Sri Lankan Prime Minister, who instigated PLOTE into such a venture on a promise of some islands.[2]
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On May 19, 1982, a shootout occurred at about 9:45 p.m. atPondy Bazaar,Mambalam,Madras between LTTE and PLOTE members. V. Prabhakaran and Raghavan (alias Sivakumar) of the LTTE, armed withrevolvers, opened fire on Jotheeswaran and Mukundan (alias Uma Maheswaran) of the PLOTE. In the mid-1970s, both Prabhakaran and Uma Maheswaran were members of the LTTE. During the gunfire, Jotheeswaran sustained bullet injuries both in his right and left thighs. Mukundan was also shot at but escaped unhurt. The accused V. Prabhakaran and Sivakumar were arrested andremanded. Both of them were proclaimed offenders of theSri Lankan government with a reward on their head ofRs. 5lakhs each.
On May 25, 1982, Uma Maheswaran was arrested nearGummidipoondirailway station. At the time of arrest, he opened fire with his revolver and another case was registered against him under theIndian Arms Act.
In the meantime, on May 23, 1982 Sivaneswaran (alias Niranjan), an accomplice of Mukundan, was also arrested at Saidapet, Madras and an unlicensed revolver seized from him. All these accused remained in custody until August 5, 1982 when they were released by the orders of the court on conditional bail. The LTTE cadres including their leader V.Pirabhakaran had taken up residence at Mylapore Madras, while the leaders and members of the PLOTE had been staying at Saidapet, Madras.
PLOTE lost its strength and momentum gradually due to continual conflicts with the LTTE. On July 16, 1989, Uma Maheswaran was assassinated inColombo. A PLOTE splinter group claimed responsibility, though many[who?] still suspect Indian intelligence agency (RAW) involvement.[3]
Currently[when?] it is functioning under the leadership ofD. Siddarthan and is a pro-government minor political party that is alleged to cooperate with the Sri Lankan military against LTTE sympathizers. The group reportedly has around 1,500 permanent cadres in the north and east.[4] In 2015 it was incorporated into the TNA.
Some former members of the group also function along with theSri Lankan Army as apara-military group in military activities against the LTTE. A prominent former PLOTE and later paramilitary leader Manika Dasan was killed by the LTTE in aclaymore bomb attack in the town ofVavuniya.[citation needed]
Another paramilitary leader from theBatticlao region, Plote Mohan, was killed by LTTE assassins in Colombo in 2004.[citation needed]
Involvement in torture documented by Human Rights Watch in a number its reports including in 2008, 2009[5] 2010[6]
A letter to the Pope urged him to take up with the Sri Lankan government, the government's support of paramilitaries such as PLOTE.[7]
