Velupillai Prabhakaran

Velupillai Prabhakaran (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; born November 26, 1954), sometimes referred to as V. Prabhakaran or Pirabaharan, is the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization fighting for Tamil self-rule in North-East Sri Lanka and also to represent the Tamil people against verified claims of State sponsored terrorism in Sri Lanka. He is also the head of de facto independent state of Tamil Eelam. He was born in the northern coastal town of Velvettithurai, Sri Lanka, to Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and Vallipuram Parvathy.

Biography

In 1972, at the age of 18, he founded an organization named Tamil New Tigers (TNT) which was a successor to many initial organizations that protested against the settling of Sinhala people in the North and North-eastern regions of Sri Lanka, by displacing the Tamils in the region and this was seen to have an ethnic cleansing motive[1], as quoted by neutral international media. After a series of nominally peaceful protests[2] as claimed by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the 'TNT' was formed and then went on to become an organization which gave military training to protest against this displacement. While the Sri Lankan government backed the displacement move, it also provided military assistance in the newly settled Sinhala areas for the protection of the majority folk. This led Velupillai Prabhakaran, the then chief of TNT to conclude that the military might of the Sri Lankan government would have to be to be faced with some resistance as many earlier peace protests by the then TULF - Tamil United Liberation Front, were claimed to be suppressed by the Sri Lankan Government [3]

In 1975, after becoming heavily involved in the Tamil movement, he plotted the first political murder of the LTTE by murdering the the mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah,by shooting him at a point blank range when he was about to enter the Hindu temple at Punnelary. It was a symbolic act which gave them the brand LTTE and it is widely acknowledged to be an act of revenge protesting the death of nine civilians who had come to attend the World Tamil Conference, which was held in the city of Jaffna. Assistant Superintendent of Police Chandrasekera, led a truckload of anti-riot police of more than 40 to the scene. Their unheralded arrival ended in the chaotic disruption of the ceremony. More than 50 others were injured in the 1974 Tamil conference incident and the LTTE blamed Alfred Duraiappah[4] to have backed the then SLFP(SriLanka Freedom Party) party and betraying the majority Tamil sentiments in the Jaffna peninsula. [5]

On May 5, 1976, the TNT was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.

He has been wanted by Interpol and many other organizations, since 1991 for Terrorism, Murder, Organized Crime and Terrorism Conspiracy. and has been issued a death warrant by the Chennai high court for plotting Rajiv Gandhi 's assasination in May, 1991 and in 2002 Judge Ambepitiya issued an open warrent to arrest him in connection with the 1996 central bank bombing[6]. Judge found him guilty on 51 counts and sentenced him to 200 years in prison [7][8].Also there are multiple warrants for the murder of the then president Premadasa. [9]

Personal life

There are not many insights onto Prabhakaran's personal life, either from his interviews or from cited media sources, although it is widely known that he is married to Mathivathani Erambu [10]. Their marriage was held in Tirupporur, near Chennai on 1st October 1984. They have a daughter named Duwaraka, and a son named Charles Anthony and another son named Balachandran. Their whereabouts are not known, but it is widely speculated that they are not in Sri Lanka[11].

Prabhakaran studied upto Govt College examinations, ordinary level which is equal to Secondary school leaving ceritifcate grade or also commonly 10th grade. He is also known to suffer from a number of stress and fatigue related syndromes such as Blood pressure,Diabetes,and also TIA, the medical term for Transient ischemic attack. [12]

He is also referred to as 'Thambi' (younger brother) by the people in Eelam, and is formally addressed as 'Tamil Eezha Desiya Thalaivar' (National leader of Tamil Eelam) in all official documents.[13]

Sunday interview

In 1984, the Indian newsmagazine Sunday featured an interview[14] with Prabhakaran in its March 11-17 issue. The interviewer was Anita Pratap[15], then a rookie journalist covering the Sri Lanka conflict. Prabhakaran would later offer her many more interviews, allowing Pratap to bring him and his motivations to life. She documented her insights into the conflict in her book Island of Blood: Frontline Reports From Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Other South Asian Flashpoints (2001).

Beyond the obvious publicity that followed, the cover photograph was the first picture of Prabhakaran that the Sri Lankan authorities had even seen. Before the publication, authorities had been using a childhood picture found in a family album.

Though he does not give too many interviews, some of his interviews[16] point to his ideologies and also perspectives on various issues pertaining to Eelam and the struggle for independence.

Press conference at Killinochchi

Prabhakan's first and only major press conference was held in Killinochchi on the 10th of April, 2002. It was reported that more than 300 journalists from the local and foreign media attended this event. Though much of the event was not as sensational as it was expected to be in terms of revealing insights into the modus operandi of the LTTE, Rajeev Gandhi's killing was mentioned as an 'unfortunate incident' (Thuyariyal Sambavam in Tamil) by Anton Balasingham. [17]

Philosophy and ideology of Prabhakaran

Prabhakaran has not expressed an all encompassing systematic philosophy or ideology as such, but has declared his ideology to be driven by 'Revolutionary socialism and the creation of an equalitarian society'[18] He joined the Tamil nationalist movement in his youth and quickly established himself as a strong willed militant leader by founding LTTE. His rare interviews, his annual Tamil Eelam Heroes Day speeches, and the policies and actions of the LTTE can be taken as indicators of Prabhakaran’s philosophy and ideology. The following are important areas when considering philosophy and ideology of Prabhakaran.

Caste

The Hindu society is structured along caste lines, and the upper Vellalar caste strives to maintain its leadership and privilege position by intra-marrying within their castes, and by discriminating against low cast members . As a member of relatively lower Karaiyar caste, Prabhakaran's rise to leadership has meant that LTTE was able to break or transcend the caste structure . But it should be noted in the Karaiyar dominated coastal belt upper Velallar caste hegemony was limited or even non existent.

His grandfather was the builder/owner of a local Hindu Siva temple, hence the ritual position of his family was very high within his native town [19]. Nevertheless LTTE strongly opposes caste, and its leadership consistently has members from all castes, with a strong presence of lower castes. Moreover, LTTE aligns itself with lower or middle caste political parties of Tamil Nadu, such as Dalit Panthers (DP), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK). However, LTTE does not antagonize the upper castes, and does not use caste as its orientation framework, rather it uses Tamil nationalism to delegitimize caste. Prabhakaran’s contribution to deligitimization of caste within Sri Lankan Tamil society is instrumental. Caste is not used to discriminate in the society in Eelam and all of them are expected to have the only single minded goal of a separate nation.

Women's rights

Women in traditional South Asian Hindu societies were generally treated as subservient to men, and were not given equal opportunities to pursue non traditional careers apart from performing household chores (Manu_Smriti#Status_of_Women).

However Prabhakaran allowed women to join the movement and to fight in the battlefield. Also in a radical move, LTTE outlawed dowry. He has consistently stated that equal rights and opportunities should be given to women. In his International Women's Day address, on 8 March 1996, he stated the following about Tamil women: "For the awakening of a nation and the salvation of womanhood, the Thamileelam revolutionary woman has transformed herself into a tigress! Fierce and fiery, she has taken up arms to fight injustice.". [20] & [21]

Velupillai Prabhakaran has always insisted on gender equality, on and off the battleground.

Religion

Prabhakaran is a born Hindu, but as a person heading an organization with people from many backgrounds he has never explicitly used or stated religion, or adherence to any form of worship, in any of his doctrines or speeches. However, religion is not a factor in his philosophy or ideology. The LTTE is also an organization that does not cite any material from religion or religious texts in any of it's ideological documents and propaganda but are driven only by the idea of Tamil nationalism and considers it as the only single-minded approach and inspiration towards the attainment of an independent Tamil Eelam. [22]. All LTTE ceremonies are secular, rooted in ancient Tamil customs, or seek to incorporate multi-religious elements. For instance, Hindus traditionally cremate their dead, but LTTE fighters are buried, according to the old Tamil custom of burying the warriors. Also, LTTE has an overwhelming support of the minority Sri Lankan Tamil Christians and the Church , and a number of leading LTTE officers are Christians. Prabhakaran named his son Charles Anthony, a Christian name, after one of his most trusted associates, Charles Lucas Anthony, alias Seelan, who was killed in 1983.

Tamil nationalism

Prabhakaran’s source of inspiration and direction is Tamil nationalism. His stated and ultimate ideal is to get Tamil Eelam recognized as a nation as per the U.N. Charter that guarantees the right of a people to political independence[23] which has been given in their official webpage[24]. The LTTE had also proposed a LTTE proposal for an Interim Self-Governing Authority[25] just before the onset of the ceasefire.

Prabhakaran, in his Heroe's day message in 2003 declared the following [26]:

Our organisation, as well as our people do not want war. We want peace and we want to resolve our problems through peaceful means. We are deeply committed to the peace process. It is because of our sincere commitment to peace that we are firmly and rigidly observing ceasefire. It is our organisation that took the initiative of declaring the cessation of hostilities unilaterally and observing peace for the last two years tolerating the provocative actions of the state's armed forces.

Prabhakaran also claims to represent the Tamil people against State sponsored terrorism in Sri Lanka. [27]

Militarism of the LTTE

As per his own views, Prabhakaran has explicitly stated that an armed struggle is the only way[28] to resist an Asymmetric warfare, in which one side - that of the SL govt is armed and the other comparatively unarmed. He argues that he chose military means only after observing that non–violent means have been ineffectual and obsolete, especially after the Thileepan incident. Thileepan[29], a colonel rank officer adopted Gandhian means to protest against the IPKF killings by staging a fast unto death from 15th August, 1987 and by abstaining from food or water till 27th August, he passed away in front of thousands of Tamils who had come there to fast along with him. This further strengthened Prabahakaran's resolve that peaceful protests would either be ignored or crushed but never heard [30].

Economic system

The LTTE has little manufacturing apart from cottage industries. However the LTTE collects taxes from the Tamils living in the de-facto Eelam state which has its own transport system called 'Eelam Pokkuvaratthu kazhagam' (Eelam transport organization) [31] and also many other supplementary revenue means including fishing in the north-eastern regions of peninsula and also around Mullaitivu. The LTTE also collects voluntary money from the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, primarily in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Environment

Prabhakaran has famously stated that “Nature is my friend, life my philosopher, and history my guide” [32]. LTTE has important camps in the arid jungles in and around the Jaffna peninsula, and Prabhakaran himself is presumed to reside in safe houses in jungles . Also, the Tamil population comprises mainly farmers and fishermen who depend on their environment for sustenance. It can therefore be interpreeted that the natural environment would be of military, economic, and strategic value to LTTE and Prabhakaran.

Modus Operandi

Prabhakaran is widely reported to have operated in India, primarily in Tamil Nadu prior to 1990s . Since his return to Sri Lanka, he has not traveled abroad . It is interesting to note that he weighs the international dynamics heavily in his decision making ever since the Rajeev Gandhi assasination which led to the banning of LTTE in India.

From the ongoing peace initiatives and a moderately belligerent stance, it can be inferred that LTTE as an organization seeks legitimacy from the international community and yet finds itself hampered by the restrictions that substantial engagements seem to bring because of ongoing conflict.

Ever since Jaffna was lost to the Sri Lankan army in 1995, following the government offensive called Operation Jayasikuru, Kilinocchi and Mullaitivu serve as makeshift capitals of the de-facto state of Tamil Eelam.

Quotes

• "Nature is my friend, Life my philosopher and History my guide."[33]
• "Tamil Eelam will be a socialist state. By socialism I mean an egalitarian society where human freedom and individual liberties will be guaranteed, where all forms of oppression and exploitation will be abolished. It will be a free society where our people will have maximum opportunity to develop their economy and promote their culture. Tamil Eelam will be a neutral state, committed to non-alignment and friendly to India."[34]
• "Seythu mudi, illai seththu madi" - Do, or die
• "My enemies decide the weapon I use"

See Also

• LTTE
• Sri Lankan Civil War
• State terrorism in Sri Lanka
• Attacks allegedly carried out by LTTE

Further reading

• M.R.Narayan Swamy. (2003). Inside an Elusive Mind - Prabhakaran. USA: Literate World, Inc.
• Prabhakaran - A Leader for All Seasons - Glimpses of the Man behind the Leader"
• Rajan Hoole. (2001) 'The Arrogance of power ', UTHR(J), Colombo.

External links

• Velupillai Prabhakaran's first interview to Anita Pratap in 1984 which was carried by the Indian news magazing 'Sunday'
• Prabhakaran's health report
• Official website of LTTE
• A short assorted list of his interviews
• Interpol Wanted Notice
• Pirapaharan by T. Sabaratnam
• The Pirabakaran Phenomenon by Sachi Sri Kantha
• Velupillai Pirabaharan - www.tamilnation.org
• "Tamil National Leader: Pon. Veluppillai Prabhakaran" - www.eelamweb.com
• The enigma of Prabhakaran - BBC Profile
• BBC Reclusive Tamil rebel leader faces public (2002)
• BBC interview with V.Pirapaharan (27.04.95)
• BBC interview with V.Pirapaharan (13.09.94)
• The First Interview - Anita Pratap
• Toronto Star article "Roar of the Tigers"
• Prabakaran in First Person - T.S. Subramanian - April 2002 - Press Meet