Velupillai Prabhakaran

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Velupillai Pirapakaran

Born Velupillai Pirapakaran
26 November 1954 (age 53)
Velvettithurai
Residence Northern Sri Lanka
Other names Pirabaharan or as Thambi
Occupation Leader of LTTE
Political party Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Sri Lankan Conflict
Background
Sri Lanka • History of Sri Lanka
Origins of the Civil War
Origins of the Civil War
Black July • Riots and pogroms
Human rights • Allegations of state terror
Tamil militant groups
LTTE
LTTE • Attacks • Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
Current major figures
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Karuna Amman
Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sarath Fonseka
Indian Involvement
Operation Poomalai
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Rajiv Gandhi • RAW
See also
Military of Sri Lanka
TMVP • EPDP
Notable assassinations • Child soldiers
This box: view • talk • edit

Velupillai Prabhakaran (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; born November 26, 1954), also known as Thambi,[1] is the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a rebel organization that seeks an independent Tamil state in part of the territory of Sri Lanka.

He is currently wanted by Interpol for terrorism, murder, organized crime and terrorism conspiracy.[2] Although during an interview he stated that the LTTE are not yet ready to give up the demand for an independent state, he has suggested that this may be a possibility once the "Tamil homeland, Tamil nationality and Tamil right to self-determination" are politically recognised and accepted.

Contents

[edit] Spelling of the name

There are different approaches to render his name in Latin script, which appear very different at first sight. The most straightforward option is a transliteration according to the Library of Congress transliteration schema. Given that the name is வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன in Tamil, this yields Vēluppillai Pirapākaran. People unfamilar with this transliteration model tend to mispronounce the name, which is why outside academia, a more phonetic rendering (a transcription) is often found. The pronunciation of the name is [ʋeːlʊppɨllaəppɨraːbaharan]. This is approximated in a spelling based on English conventions by "Pirapakaran", "Pirapaharan" or "Pirabaharan". A third option is to trace the history of the name back to its origins in Sanskrit, and then apply the Library of Congress transliteration rules. This gives the version most often used in Western media, namely "Prabhakaran". In Tamil, there is no contrast in voicing or aspiration of stops, so that for Tamils it is not immediately obvious why they should care about the difference between p and bh in Sanskrit, when this is not important in their language. Given that Tamils prefer to be seen as distinct from Indo-Aryans, the Sanskrit spelling of the name is not popular in English language Tamil media.

[edit] Biography

Prabhakaran was born in the northern coastal town of Velvettithurai, Sri Lanka to Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and Vallipuram Parvathy. [3] In 1972, at the age of 18, Velupillai Pirapakaran founded an organization named Tamil New Tigers (TNT) which was a successor to many initial organizations that protested against the post colonial political direction of the country that pitted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils against the majority Sinhalese people.Political situation[›]

In 1975, after becoming heavily involved in the Tamil movement, he carried out his first political murder by murdering the mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, by shooting him at point blank range while he was about to enter the Hindu temple at Punnelary. The assassination was in response to the 1974 Tamil conference incident, and the Tamil radicals had blamed Alfred Duraiappah,[4] because he backed the then Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP) implicated in the violence as well as for allegedly betraying the Tamil nationalist 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.[3]


Religion is not a major 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 its ideological documents and propaganda but are driven only by the idea of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism and considers it as the only single-minded approach and inspiration towards the attainment of an independent Tamil Eelam.

For instance, upper caste Hindus traditionally cremate their dead yet others don't, but LTTE fighters are buried. . Pirapakaran named his son Charles Anthony, after one of his most trusted associates, Charles Lucas Anthony, alias Seelan, who was killed in 1983.

[edit] Personal life

There are not many insights onto Pirapakaran's personal life, either from his interviews or from cited media sources, although it is widely known that he is married to Mathivathani Erambu.[3] Their marriage was held in Tirupporur, near Madras (now Chennai) on 1 October 1984. They have a daughter named Duwaraka, 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.[3]

Velupillai Pirapakaran studied up to G.C.E. Ordinary level (Grade 12) at Chidampara College. Pirapakaran is also known to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, and TIAs.[3]

[edit] Sunday interview

In 1984, the Indian news magazine Sunday featured an interview with Pirapakaran in its March 11-17 issue. The interviewer was Anita Pratap, then a rookie journalist covering the Sri Lanka conflict. Pirapakaran 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).

Authorities had been using a childhood picture found in a family album.[6]

[edit] Press conference at Killinochchi

Pirapakaran's first and only major press conference was held in Killinochchi on 10 April 2002. [7] 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[7] in which Anton Balasingham introduced the LTTE leader as the "President and Prime minister of Tamil Eelam"

A number of questions were asked about LTTE's commitment towards the erstwhile peace process and Pirapakaran and Dr. Anton Balasingham jointly answered the questions.

Answering a question from one of the reporters Pirapakaran said that he has instructed the LTTE cadres to kill [prabakaran] if he compromised on the goal of independent state. [7]

Repeated questions of his involvement in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination were only answered in a sober note by both Balasingham and Pirapakaran. They called it a "tragic incident" ("Thunbiyal Chambavam", as quoted in Tamil) and they requested the press "not to dig into an incident that happened 10 years ago".

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. [8]

Pirapakaran also answered a number of questions in which he reaffirmed their commitment towards 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" and 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."

Pirapakaran also insisted firmly that only de-proscription would bring forth an amenable solution to the ongoing peace process mediated by Norway: "We have informed the government, we have told the Norwegians that de-proscription is a necessary condition for the commencements of talks".[9][10]

[edit] Philosophy and ideology of Pirapakaran

Pirapakaran 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 Pirapakaran’s philosophy and ideology. The following are important areas when considering philosophy and ideology of Pirapakaran.

[edit] Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism

Pirapakaran’s source of inspiration and direction is Sri Lankan Tamil nationalismSri 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[11] 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.

[edit] Militarism of the LTTE

As per his own views, Pirapakaran 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 Pirabahakaran's resolve that peaceful protests would either be ignored or crushed but never heard [12].

[edit] Modus Operandi

Pirapakaran 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.

[edit] Perspectives on his approach

Velupillai Pirapakaran 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. The LTTE claims they are the sole representative of Tamil people, and has steeped the entire culture into one of self-sacrifice and martyrdom.[13]

Those who wish to join the LTTE Black Tiger suicide squad have to write Pirapakaran a letter of application. Before they carry out their suicide missions they are granted a personal meal with him.[13]

[edit] Criminal indictments

Velupillai Pirapakaran has been wanted by Interpol and many other organizations since 1991 for "terrorism", "murder", "organized crime" and "terrorism conspiracy".[2] He has been issued a death warrant[14] by the Madras High Court in India for plotting the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May, 1991 and in 2002 Judge Ambepitiya issued an open warrant to arrest him in connection with the 1996 Central Bank Bombing.[15] The judge found him guilty on 51 counts and sentenced him to 200 years in prison.

[edit] Notes

  • ^ Political situation: Sri Lanka’s nation-building program became intimately linked with a Sinhalisation of the state directive.[16] 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. [17]
  • ^ 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.[18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Political murders, blunders: LTTE goes scot free", The Sunday Times Sri Lanka, 1996-10-27. Retrieved on 2007-11-22. 
  2. ^ a b Wanted: VELUPILLAI, Pirabhakaran. Interpol (2006-10-04). Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e Asian Triune Health Profile of Prabakaran
  4. ^ Welcome to UTHR, Sri Lanka
  5. ^ Asia Times: Sri Lanka: The Untold Story
  6. ^ Sabaratnam, T. (2004-12-10). Pirapaharan, Chapter 28 (Volume 2). Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
  7. ^ a b c The Hindu : Time not ripe to give up Eelam goal: Prabakaran
  8. ^ The Hindu : Time not ripe to give up Eelam goal: Prabakaran
  9. ^ Assignment Colombo at page xv(15), ISBN 81-220-0499-7, published by Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd, delhi
  10. ^ Wages of Sin by Sl Gunasekera
  11. ^ UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
  12. ^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1806875,001302310000.htm
  13. ^ a b Discipline, death and martyrdom (2006-06-09). Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
  14. ^ Sri Lanka Monitor
  15. ^ LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists Bomb Central Bank in Sri Lanka killing 58 Civilians
  16. ^ "The Failure of State Formation, Identity Conflict and Civil Society Responses - The Case of Sri Lanka" (1999). Brad.edu. 
  17. ^ How it Came to This – Learning from Sri Lanka’s Civil Wars By Professor John Richardson. paradisepoisoned.com. Retrieved on 2006-03-30.
  18. ^ Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, By Professor A. Jeyaratnam Wilson Publisher: University of British Columbia Press (March 2000) (ISBN 1-850-65338-0)

[edit] Further reading

Prabhakaran;inside an elusive mind by M.K.Narayan Swamy Vijitha yapa publications, Sri Lanka Tigers of Lanka by M.K.narayan swamy Vijitha yapa Pblications, sri Lanka Island of blood by Anita Pratab Vijitha Yapa Publications, sri Lanka Rendering unto Caesar by Bradman weerakoon Vijitha yapa Publications, sri Lanka voices from a war zone by Nirupama Subramanian Vijitha yapa Publications, Sri Lanka History of Sri Lanka by K.M.de silva Vijitha Yapa Publications, Sri Lanka

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews and speeches