Velupillai Prabhakaran

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 124.43.224.71 (talk) at 18:09, 28 May 2007 (→Press conference at Killinochchi). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 18:09, 28 May 2007 by 124.43.224.71 (talk) (→Press conference at Killinochchi)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Velupillai Prabhakaran
Born	Velupillai Prabhakaran 26 November 1954 Velvettithurai
Other names	Pirabaharan or as Thambi
Occupation	Leader of LTTE
Political party	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Spouse	Mathivathani Erambu
Children	Three

Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)

Origins

Combatants

Sri Lanka	Army (LRRP) Navy Air Force Police Special Task Force Home Guards Attacks on civilians Assassinations
LTTE	Divisions Air Tigers Sea Tigers Black Tigers Attacks in the 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Assassinations Suicide bombings
Other militants (list)	ENDLF ENLF EPRLF EROS PLOTE TELO
India	Indian Peace Keeping Force
Paramilitary groups	EPDP TMVP

Phases

Major battles

Major events

Leaders

Sri Lanka

Military

Army	Tissa Weeratunga Nalin Seneviratne Hamilton Wanasinghe Cecil Waidyaratne G. H. De Silva Rohan Daluwatte Srilal Weerasooriya L. P. Balagalle Shantha Kottegoda Sarath Fonseka
Navy	Asoka de Silva H. A. Silva Clancy Fernando D. A. M. R. Samarasekara H. C. A. C. Thisera Daya Sandagiri Wasantha Karannagoda
Air Force	Dick Perera Andibuduge Fernando Makalandage Gunawardena Oliver Ranasinghe Jayalath Weerakkody Donald Perera Roshan Goonetileke

Civilian

LTTE

Militant	Velupillai Prabhakaran Pottu Amman Soosai Karuna Amman
Political	Selvarasa Pathmanathan Anton Balasingham S. P. Thamilselvan

India

Military	Harkirat Singh Ashok K. Mehta Kulwant Singh Depinder Singh Dalvir Singh Krishnaswamy Sundarji
Civilian	R. Venkataraman Rajiv Gandhi V. P. Singh Jyotindra Nath Dixit J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi Vaiko

Aftermath

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 egalitarian society'. 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.

Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism

Prabhakaran’s source of inspiration and direction is Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism . His stated and ultimate ideal is to get Tamil Eelam recognised as a nation as per the U.N. Charter that guarantees the right of a people to political independence which has been given in their official web page. The LTTE also proposed the formation of an Interim Self-Governing Authority during Peace Negotiations in 2003.

Militarism of the LTTE

As per his own views, Prabhakaran has explicitly stated that an armed struggle is the only way to resist an Asymmetric warfare, in which one side - that of the Sri Lankan government 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, a colonel rank officer adopted Gandhian means to protest against the IPKF killings by staging a fast unto death from 15 August, 1987 and by abstaining from food or water till 27 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 .

Economic system

The LTTE has little manufacturing apart from cottage industries. However the LTTE collects taxes from the Tamils living in areas under LTTE control which has its own transport system called 'Eelam Pokkuvaratthu kazhagam' (Eelam transport organization) and also many other supplementary revenue means including fishing. The LTTE also collects money from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, primarily in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Individual LTTE members and sympathisers have been noted to smuggle drugs worldwide to raise funds for the LTTE, and the LTTE is reported to have close ties with drug trafficking networks in Burma.

The LTTE has been implicated in the forced prostitution of Tamil women who are being smuggled to other countries. In the mid 1990s some Sri Lankan women were abused or raped while being smuggled towards Canada by the LTTE, and some were deliberately stranded in Thailand and forced into prostitution there.

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.

Prabhakaran is accused of the violent suppression of other Tamil groups seeking eelam and critics of the LTTE. Appapillai Amirthalingam the founder of the Tamil United Liberation Front was assassinated by the LTTE is 1989. EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda has been a regular target of LTTE assassination squads having survived nearly half a dozen assassination attempts. He is also accused of ordering the assassination of the prominent Tamil academic and former Tamil United Liberation Front member Neelan Thiruchelvam.

The LTTE was also accused of the failed assassination by bombing of the Pakistan high commissioner to Sri Lanka, Bashir Wali Mohamed, who was returning from a function to celebrate Pakistan's Independence Day, on August 14 2006. Pakistan is one of Sri lanka's main arms suppliers.

Ever since Jaffna was lost to the Sri Lankan army in 1995, following the government offensive called Operation Rivirasa, the towns of Kilinocchi and Mullaitivu have serve as makeshift capitals of the areas of Sri Lanka under LTTE control.

The LTTE's former longest-serving regional military commander Colonel Karuna who broke away from the LTTE in 2004 claimed that Prabhakaran discriminated against the lives of his eastern fighters during the wars causing them to be killed on the battlefields of the Vanni. He additionally claimed that Prabhakaran has given up the demand for Tamil Eelam, instead demanding a federal system and internal self-determination . He was also critical of Prabhakaran's failure to share power, and alleged that Prabhakaran was acting according to the influence of Pottu Amman. Furthermore, Karuna has claimed that Prabhakaran intentionally dragged out peace talks in order to give the LTTE more time to re-arm for further hostilities.

Personality cult

Velupillai Prabhakaran has been accused of building the LTTE around a personality cult. He is called "the great leader" and his picture is hung everywhere in rebel held areas. He has banned other religions, as well as alcohol and smoking. He claimed to be the sole representatives of Tamil people, and has steeped the entire culture into one of self-sacrifice and martyrdom.

Those who wish to join the LTTE Black Tiger suicide squad have to write Prabhakaran a letter of application. Before they carry out their suicide missions they are granted a personal meal with him.

Notes

Political situation: Sri Lanka’s nation-building program became intimately linked with a Sinhalisation of the state directive. One form of extremism and violence led to the other and by 1970's there were some minority radical Tamil youth who were legitimizing terrorist attacks against the state as a response to alleged state violence.
Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism is expressed in the political desire by some to form an independent nation state called Tamil Eelam for the minority Sri Lankan Tamil people. Both moderate TULF and TNA and militant groups such as LTTE, EPRLF, PLOTE, EPDP etc have expressed such political goals either in the past or now.