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If ltte is terrorist organization (IWPL )Mumbai based company also known as Isha Webhosting Pvt Ltd claiming copyright owners of LTTE VIDEOS So this Mumbai company is the legal representative of LTTE NOW?
Vice versa we flagged so many anti eelam videos in the youtube community but non of them reviewed or removed.
Wait and see these videos nothing happened .
Youtube review team full of anti tamil peoples they deliberately removing the videos supporting Freedom of Speech for Eelam Tamil Peoples.
The 9th of July 2018 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Air bombing of Tamil refugees in Navaly church in Jaffna peninsula which left at least 120 Tamil civilians dead, including men, women and children and hundreds injured.
The bombing of St Peters Church at Navaly, occurred following a series of leaflet drops from Air by the Sri Lankan forces, that encouraged Tamil civilians to move to places of worship to avoid Sri Lanka’s air force bombing against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Initially, then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government denied reports of the Church bombing before eventually pledging to establish an inquiry into the incident. But that inquiry never yield any result. 23 years on but the justice still awaits.
The Sri Lankan government criticised the International Committee of the Red Cross for reporting on the incident to the international community. But according to Daya Somasundaram, a professor of the University of Adelaide. the church was well away from the fighting. He termed this attack a war crime committed by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
The ICRC, two days after the incident, reported, “Thirteen babies were among the 65 dead found under the rubble of a Catholic church bombed by the Sri Lankan air force. According to eye witness accounts, this church and several adjacent buildings were hit by further air force strikes at 4.30 p.m. the same day. During the attack 65 people were killed on the spot and more that 150 wounded, including women and children, many succumbed to the injuries later. That evening and into the night Sri Lanka Red Cross staff evacuated most of the wounded by ambulance to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) present the next morning at the scene of the attack noted the widespread damage and measured the extent of the tragedy. Many of the bodies had not yet been removed from the rubble.”
Speaking to Time Magazine, the Bishop of Jaffna Thomas Savundaranayagam, who had already urged, President Kumaratunga to cease bombing of religious places of worship, said,
“The military warned civilians to clear the south west of its base at Palaly, recommending churches and temples as shelters. At 4.30 p.m. an Argentine made Pucara fighter flew toward the Navali church, 3 km outside the combat zone, and bombed the sanctuary and adjacent courtyard. St.Peters Church in Navali and the adjoining St.Peter’s School where hundreds had sought shelter were badly gutted. bodies were retrieved from the debris, many of whom were women and children. The final death toll in Navaly was about 120. Rescue workers have reported that torn limbs and pieces of human flesh were strewn over the area.”
A joint statement by 21 NGOs condemned the government’s killing of civilians.
“The Sri Lanka government, initially denied the bombing of the St.Peters Church. Then it criticised the ICRC representative for reporting the incident to the world media without consulting the Government. Later the government promised to hold an inquiry into the incident…The aerial bombardment of civilian population centres and places of worship follow a pattern set by the Sri Lanka armed forces over the past several years and President Kumaratunga’s belated promise to investigate the recent violations, must ring hollow in the ears of the Tamil people whose kith and kin have lost their lives or their limbs in the bomb outrage.”
Pope John Paul, speaking a few days after the incident, expressed grief with those involved with the “ethnic conflict that is tearing Sri Lanka apart,” adding that he shared the grief “of those who lost their loved ones in the bombing of the church and school of Navaly.”
Sri Lanka suffers further churches bombing and destructions that includes the shelling of the holiest Catholic shrine in Sri Lanka, the Shrine of Lady of Madhu, that badly damaged the Shrine as well. on November 20, 1999, the shelling resulted in the deaths of approximately 44 Tamil civilians, including children, and more than 60 injured. During the 1990s the church was established as a safe and neutral zone by the UNHCR. The church had housed thousands of civilians as a refuge. In May 1999, the Sri Lankan Army breached the longstanding agreement of “no guns, no uniform” and took control of a formerly neutral area. The army also cleared the shrine of all refugees. But under pressure later withdrew from the area, once the refugees moved back shelled the shrine.
Nehru Gunaratnam
No justice 23 years after bombing of Navaly church by Sri Lanka Airforce
The 9th of July 2016 marks the 21st anniversary of the bombing of refugees in Navaly church which left at least 120 Tamil civilians dead.
The bombing of St Peters Church at Navaly, occurred following a series of leaflet drops in previous weeks that encouraged Tamil civilians to move to places of worship to avoid Sri Lanka’s air force bombing against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Initially, President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s government denied reports of the Church bombing before eventually pledging to establish an inquiry into the incident.
The Sri Lankan government initially criticised the International Committee of the Red Cross for reporting on the incident to the international community.
The ICRC, two days after the incident, reported,
“Thirteen babies were among the 65 dead found under the rubble of a Catholic church bombed by the Sri Lankan air force. According to eye witness accounts, this church and several adjacent buildings were hit by further air force strikes at 4.30 p.m. the same day. During the attack 65 people were killed and 150 wounded, including women and children. That evening and into the night Sri Lanka Red Cross staff evacuated most of the wounded by ambulance to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) present the next morning at the scene of the attack noted the widespread damage and measured the extent of the tragedy. Many of the bodies had not yet been removed from the rubble.”
Speaking to Time Magazine, the Bishop of Jaffna Thomas Savundaranayagam, who had already urged, President Kumaratunga to cease bombing of religious places of worship, said,
“The military warned civilians to clear the south west of its base at Palaly, recommending churches and temples as shelters. At 4.30 p.m. an Argentine made Pucara fighter flew toward the Navali church, 3 km outside the combat zone, and bombed the sanctuary and adjacent courtyard. St.Peters Church in Navali and the adjoining St.Peter’s School where hundreds had sought shelter were badly gutted. 56 bodies were retrieved from the debris, many of whom were women and children. The final death toll in Navaly was about 120. Rescue workers have reported that torn limbs and pieces of human flesh were strewn over the area.”
A joint statement by 21 NGOs condemned the government’s killing of civilians.
“The Sri Lanka government, initially denied the bombing of the St.Peters Church. Then it criticised the ICRC representative for reporting the incident to the world media without consulting the Government. Later the government promised to hold an inquiry into the incident…The aerial bombardment of civilian population centres and places of worship follow a pattern set by the Sri Lanka armed forces over the past several years and President Kumaratunga’s belated promise to investigate the recent violations, must ring hollow in the ears of the Tamil people whose kith and kin have lost their lives or their limbs in the bomb outrage.”
Pope John Paul, speaking a few days after the incident, expressed grief with those involved with the “ethnic conflict that is tearing Sri Lanka apart,” adding that he shared the grief “of those who lost their loved ones in the bombing of the church and school of Navaly.”
‘I have no blood on my hands’ claims CBK (08 Jul 2015)
Navali Massacre: St.Peters Church in Navaly bombed with refugees inside
Having dropped leaflets asking the people to move to places of worship the Sri Lanka air force there after attacked the places of worship where Tamil civilians had sought refuge.
St.Peters Church and St.Peters School in Navaly at a great distance away from the line of battle and where hundreds had sought shelter was deliberately bombed on 9 July 1995. On the day after the attack, 56 bodies were retrieved from the debris, many of whom were women and children. The death toll in this incident later increased to 120. 13 babies died in their mother’s arms. Rescue workers reported torn limbs and pieces of human flesh strewn over the area.
“Thirteen babies were among the 65 dead found under the rubble of a Catholic church bombed by the Sri Lankan air force, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official said on Tuesday. ICRC field coordinator Dominique Henry said at least one bomb hit St Peter’s Church at Navali, north of Jaffna town, on Sunday, the day the armed forces launched their “Operation Leap Forward” against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The military, which said it was not aware of any church being bombed, had dropped leaflets warning civilians in the rebel-held peninsula to seek refuge in temples and churches to minimise the chance of death or injury in air strikes… `This is really a violation of humanitarian law if a civilian area has been deliberately targeted,” Henry said, adding that he had no information on whether the attack was deliberate or an accident. (Reuter 11 July 1995)
Bishop of Jaffna, Thomas Savundranayagam, 10 July 1995
In a letter dated 10 July 1995, the Bishop of Jaffna, Thomas Savundranayagam called upon President Chandrika Kumaratunga to stop these attacks on churches, temples and schools. He pointed out that at the time of bombing, displaced Tamil civilians had sought shelter in these places of worship. He wrote:
“Your Excellency,
St.Peters Church, Navaly
Please allow me to bring the following sad incident to your kind attention.
I very much regret to report to you the tragic killings of innocent civilian refugees who had gathered at the above Church on the instruction of your Defence Ministry.
A ‘Pukkara’ Air Craft had dropped a cluster of many bombs on this crowd of refugees who had taken shelter in the church resulting in the death of over 65 civilians including women and children and over 150 were seriously injured sustaining the loss of limbs.
Besides many were rendered homeless as many houses were razed to the ground and others heavily damaged, including our church and priest’s house. All the people in this village have fled to safer areas as refugees.
Therefore we very earnestly appeal to Your Excellency to kindly instruct your forces to desist from bombing, strafing, artillery rocked attacks on civilian targets like Kovils, Churches, Schools and Hospitals.”
Pope John Paul, Time Magazine, Humanitarian Law Project
“Pope John Paul said on Wednesday he was suffering along with the families of people killed when air force bombs hit a church in Sri Lanka. The Red Cross said 65 people died on Sunday when the bombs hit a Catholic church in Navali, north of Jaffna, and many more had died or fled their homes in the last three days of fighting between Tamil guerrillas and the Sri Lankan army. “I want to express my deep-felt sharing in the suffering of so many people involved in the ethnic conflict that is tearing Sri Lanka apart,” he told pilgrims and tourists at his weekly general audience. “I share the grief of those who lost their loved ones in the bombing of the church and school of Navali,” he added. The Pope, who visited Sri Lanka earlier this year, also called for negotiation to end the fighting. (Vatican City, July 12 Reuter Report)
“After hundreds of civilians heed the Sri Lankan army’s advice to seek refuge in St.Peter’s church at Navali, an airforce plane bombs the building killing more than 120 people… Operation Leap Forward began at dawn on July 9 and the military warned civilians to clear the south west of its base at Palaly, recommending churches and temples as shelters. At 4.30 p.m. an Argentine made Pucara fighter flew toward the Navali church, 3 km outside the combat zone, and bombed the sanctuary and adjacent courtyard.”
“Most of the people huddled inside were women and children, many of whom were killed immediately. Others had limbs blown off. Survivors were brought by tractor to the town of Jaffna 6 km away, but the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and its lone surgeon weren’t prepared. They soon ran out of bandages, antibiotics and beds. “The treatment was crude”, said Subramaniam Jebanesan, the Protestant Bishop of Jaffna, who rushed to the hospital to help. “Limbs that could have been saved had to be amputated”. (Time Magazine 31 July 1995)
“St.Peters Church in Navaly and the adjoining St.Peter’s School where hundreds had sought shelter were badly gutted. 56 bodies were retrieved from the debris, many of whom were women and children. The final death toll in Navaly was about 120. Rescue workers have reported that torn limbs and pieces of human flesh were strewn over the area.” (Press Release by Humanitarian Law Project, International Educational Development, 12 July 1995)
Condemnation by 21 Non Governmental Organisations at UN Sub Commission
“The Sri Lanka government, initially denied the bombing of the St.Peters Church. Then it criticised the ICRC representative for reporting the incident to the world media without consulting the Government. Later the government promised to hold an inquiry into the incident…The aerial bombardment of civilian population centres and places of worship follow a pattern set by the Sri Lanka armed forces over the past several years and President Kumaratunga’s belated promise to investigate the recent violations, must ring hollow in the ears of the Tamil people whose kith and kin have lost their lives or their limbs in the bomb outrage.”(Joint written statement submitted at the 47th Sessions of the UN Sub Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on 9 August 1995, by International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations and World Federation of Democratic Youth, non governmental organisations in consultative status (category I), African Association of Education for Development, American Association of Jurists, Indigenous World Association, International Association against Torture, International Association of Democratic Lawyers, International Federation of Human Rights, International Indian Treaty Council, International Islamic Federation of Student Organisations, International League for Human Rights, Pax Romana and World Society of Victimology, non governmental organisations in consultative status (category II) and Centre Europe-Tiers Monde, International Association of Educators for World Peace, International Educational Development, International Federation of Free Journalists, International Movement against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism, Liberation and Movement against Racism, For Friendship Among Peoples and Regional Council on Human Rights in Asia, non governmental organisations on the roster.)
International Red Cross expresses concern at Navali bombing
The International Red Cross issued a Statement on 11 July 1995 on the Navali massacre:
” On 9 July the Sri Lankan armed forces launched a large scale military offensive against the positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) north of the city of Jaffna. The operation involving intensive artillery shelling and air strikes, immediately forced tens of thousands of civilians to leave the area. Many of the displaced sought shelter in churches and temples, including several hundred people who took refuge in the Church of St.Peter and Paul in Navaly.“According to eye witness accounts, this church and several adjacent buildings were hit by further air force strikes at 4.30 p.m. the same day. During the attack 65 people were killed and 150 wounded, including women and children. That evening and into the night Sri Lanka Red Cross staff evacuated most of the wounded by ambulance to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) present the next morning at the scene of the attack noted the widespread damage and measured the extent of the tragedy. Many of the bodies had not yet been removed from the rubble.”
“Deeply concerned by the series of violent acts that have claimed innocent victims, the ICRC call on the parties involved to respect civilian lives, property and places of refuge. It also urges them to respect the protected zone around the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and to refrain from attacking any other medical facilities.”
In a later report dated 18 August 1995, Marco Altherr, head of the ICRC delegation to Sri Lanka added:
“It is not quite sure how many bombs fell, as only one hit the ground (a crater), the others hitting concrete, but six is a fair estimate. The church itself was not directly hit, but damaged by the blasts and shrapnel. More than 1000 people were gathered in the compound, busy to prepare food for dinner and accommodation for the night. These people were hit by bombs 3,1 and 5 but more specially by bomb 4 which was the only one to hit the ground. Mr.Altherr also sent the testimonies of some civilians. This is what they said:
“Pragasam Rajendran (M) 73 years – was just at the entrance of his house which is adjacent to the church premises. Had seen the plane. His wife Nageswary stayed next to him and saw ‘the bombs rolling in the air like pamphlets’. He had started shouting and alerted the others to lie down. As the wife laid down, she heard the first explosion and continuously some more.’
Anthony Manuelpillai (M) 73 years – who came to the church premises to fetch water from the well had seen the plane at a very low altitude and saw the bombs falling ‘like rolling papers’.
Jeganathan Jeyakumar (M) 17 years – was at a junction which is nearly 100 yards from the church premises. He had seen clusters of white objects moving towards him. As the plane passed over him blaring, he said he lied down and heard a series of explosions around the church area.
Antonythas Arulammah (F) 40 years – who was near the school building inside the church premises had seen the plane dropping something without diving downwards. She said she lied down after someone nearby alerted her for falling bombs.
Velupillai Arulammah (M) 59 years – he saw the plane dropping bombs while he was cooking meals for the displaced people inside the church compound.
George Theva (F) 45 years – was standing on the road outside the church premises. She had seen the plane dropping some objects like ‘big watermelon’.
Father James (M) – was at St.Anthony’s Church, Manipay during the incident. He saw one plane and about 6 bombs falling one after another.”
President Kumaratunga covers up Navali massacre
Sri Lanka initially denied knowledge of the bombing. Later, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar blamed the Red Cross for ‘not informing the Sri Lanka government before issuing a statement’! Subsequently, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister promised to hold an inquiry. But, later still, President Kumaratunga denied responsibility and with a callous disregard for the victims of the attack, declared that inquiries as to the Navaly attack should be addressed to the Red Cross because it was they who seem to know about the attack.
“A dispute between the ICRC and the government over recent statements is to be resolved through talks, ICRC delegation chief Marco Altherr said. The controversy rose when Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar accused the ICRC of not informing the government before issuing a statement on the attack on bombing of St.Peter’s Church at Navali. ‘The accusations came as a shock to us. We would like to meet government officials and clarify matters. This is important’ Mr.Altherr said. ‘Our duty is to work for the welfare of civilians and victims in war torn areas. Be it the Government or the LTTE, we condemn any acts against civilians and try to bring peace’ he added. Mr.Altherr said such accusations could hamper the humanitarian work of the ICRC. ‘It is important to discuss the matter and have a good understanding. Otherwise it is not possible for us to carry on with our work’ he said.” (Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Sunday Times, 16 July 1995)
“President Kumaratunga said it was probably the work of the LTTE who were firing mortar shells in that direction. ‘The ICRC says all kinds of things,” she said. ‘There was fighting three kilometers northwest of Navali, so it was unlikely any action by the security forces would have affected the church or its environs.’ (Reuter, 4 August, 1995)
On the 4th August, the President, addressing a press conference, said that the Navaly church was intact and she was awaiting a message from the Bishop of Jaffna. Rt. Rev. Thomas Soundranayagam responded with the following letter on the 7th August 1995.
“Your Excellency,I am writing to Your Excellency regarding a news item which appeared in Daily News of 05.08.95 about the aerial bombing incident on the 9th of July 1995 in the Church premises at Navaly. Your Excellency had said that you were awaiting a fax message from me on the above incident.
On the 10th of July itself I wrote a letter and on the 11th I had requested the UNHCR office to transmit it to you. I am surprised that it had not reached your office up to now. In the meantime I had sent also a copy of it to the Papal Representative in Sri Lanka and to the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka. This letter also was released in the Colombo press.
I had written this letter after ascertaining the facts from the Parish Priest. Our immediate concern was the killing of the people who had taken refuge in the Church and its premises. I had mentioned that the Church and Priest’s House were also damaged owing to the blast of the cluster of bombs released from the Pukkara air craft on the 9th of July at about 4.45 p.m.
Subsequently I myself visited the site of the incident and I found the roof of the church damaged all the doors and windows wrenched from the frames and strewn about, and the floor was littered with broken glass pieces. I also found blood stains on the floor and blood stained clothes still lying about.
By this time the death count had risen to 117 and so also the number of injured persons. I am enclosing a copy of the original letter addressed to you on the 10th of July, just after the incident.
The war in the peninsula is still continuing and the innocent civilians are living in fear because of the aerial bombings and artillery shelling. This is a futile battle and it will only increase the death of innocent civilians and help to alienate the people from the government. Hence I am appealing to you not to have resort to military solution and to resume the peace- negotiation once again. While appreciating your efforts at solving the Ethnic problem, we appeal to you to stop the war which could give us the opportunity to reflect and discuss your peace proposal. We assure you of our co-operation in your efforts to find a lasting solution to our problem. May God bless you.”
Navali and the Tamil Minister
Rajan Sriskandarajah – Tamil Infonet 1995 Fall
“Aiyo”, cried a mother whose child was wounded in the air-raid. “Please take my child to the hospital” she begged a cyclist, who looked around first, and then decided to help. “She was alive just a few minutes ago,” cried a man cradling the dead body of his pretty young wife. “She just came to help the refugees, and now she is dead,” cried a brother. Wails and cries such as these were heard (and recorded on video) on July 9th, soon after the Sinhala Airforce decided to drop, not one but nine bombs, on the Navaly St. Peter’s Church, housing refugees in Tamil Eelam.
Only a few hours earlier, the Sinhala Airforce had dropped leaflets asking civilians to take shelter in churches and temples. The poor, unsuspecting Tamil civilians had complied. This was preceded by a massive propaganda effort initiated in Colombo, to justify the newest Sinhala army offensive on Tamil Eelam, code-named “Operation Leap Forward.” Proclamations were made that this was a sacrificial effort made by the Sinhala people, to “liberate the Tamils from the clutches of the LTTE.”
The fact that most Tamils fled, in the hundreds of thousands (300,000 people, to be precise), from the so called Liberating Sinhala Forces didn’t matter. The fact that not one able bodied Tamil, remained in his/her home to be rescued by Chandrika’s army didn’t matter either. The Sinhala army was leaping forward anyway, to “save the Tamils.”
The biggest culprit in this macabre episode was a Tamil – who declared himself to be one at the UN – Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the Foreign Minister of the Sinhala State of Sri Lanka.
When the Church in Navaly was bombed this Tamil Minister of the Sinhala Sri Lanka became agitated. He became upset and irate – but ironically, not because of the tragedy experienced by the innocent refugees, but because the International Red Cross had leaked the news of the church bombing. The innocent children who were killed or maimed by his Sinhala masters didn’t matter to him. The families that were torn asunder so tragically by his masters’ forces, were of no concern at all. All that mattered to him was that his masters’ image was tarnished; and, he had worked so hard to build it up!
He ranted and raved at the Red Cross. He was joined by the racist monk Rahula Walpola and his ilk, who demanded that the ICRC be expelled. The Red Cross, which happens to be the only international relief organisation in Tamil Eelam got worried, and its chief in Colombo, Marco Altherr, actually apologised to the minister – A Galilean apology, no doubt! Mr. Altherr must have muttered something under his breath, like the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who in AD 1633 apologised for having said that the earth is round!
The frogs in the Sri Lankan well celebrated. The Sinhala media, unashamedly published the ravings of this minister. The Island headlines read – Foreign Minister Raps ICRC. There was no condemnation of the airforce for this dastardly deed. There was no rush to aid the poor victims – more of whom died due to lack of medical attention, created by the newly imposed embargo.
President Chandrika, however, got busy phoning the Archbishop in Colombo, first to disclaim, and then to promise a leisurely investigation, which is yet to be conducted. She then patted her Tamil Foreign Minister on his back for a job well done, and sent him abroad for further damage control and news management.
The message to the airforce pilots was very clear – “do what you want to do, we will defend you.” Guess what? Another of those pilots decided that some school children in a remote village were an easy target. No Tigers around, to shoot his plane down; bomb them! On Sep. 22, he bombed Nagar Kovil Maha Vidyalayam killing 23 children on the spot, during their lunch break. In repeated sorties, neighbours who rushed to help the injured children were also killed.
Regardless, the Tamil Minister of the Sinhala Sri Lanka Government made his rounds in Australia, U.K., Canada and the US, advising Sinhala Ambassadors and Sinhala organisations on how to conduct propaganda. His mission was also to counter Tamil groups in these countries. The Sangam office bearers were contacted individually to meet with the Minister. The Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, responded, politely of course, as to why a meeting wasn’t possible with a minister whose hands are tainted with Tamil blood!
Dr. Ruwan M. Wijewardena A psychological analysis of Prabhakaran’s factor written by Jayathunge has been unveiled by God’s publishers.
The book also points out the leadership factors of Veluppil Prabhakaran as well as the anti-social characteristics of him. Commenting on the book, consultant Psychiatrist Sarath Panduwawala points out that the author reveals the hidden psychological aspects of Prabhakaran.
Rajiv Gandhi’s IPKF Folly Beginning and the End by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 21, 2010
Simply told, despite the propaganda of New Delhi mandarins and bucket carriers (such as the ‘House of Hindu’ scribes and Indian academics) to New Delhi Brahmins, Rajiv Gandhi was not keen on helping the Eelam Tamils. He acted to guard India’s military interests and the then Congress Party’s political interests. This also partly explains why Mervyn de Silva, among all the Sinhalese, had a ‘soft corner’ for Prabhakaran, and the feature I provide here reinforces this view. While other Sinhalese parties, namely SLFP and JVP, some elements in the UNP including the then prime minister R. Premadasa, the Sinhalese military elements, Buddhist clergy and the jingoist press were vociferous in their anti-India protest, only the LTTE leader stood up to Indian-bullying, in military terms. Dayan Jayatilleka’s piece is also revealing in that while the LTTE got the bum-rap as a spoiler, he shows that the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord was first spoilt by the grandstanding of Gamini Dissanaiyake (an active proponent of the Accord), who was in his element of racial rabble rousing, and who defended his Sinhala colonization policy by stating that Rajiv Gandhi was made aware of his strategy and Rajiv did not object to it.
The 20th anniversary of Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) returning from Sri Lanka in March 1990 passed by relatively unnoticed. Here is a roundup of basic facts. In 1990, the ruling party in India was not Congress, the ruling party in Sri Lanka was not the SLFP. Both Congress Party and SLFP were in the opposition then. But, Karunanidhi’s DMK party was in power in Tamil Nadu. He boycotted the return of IPKF soldiers, for political reasons. Today, Karunanidhi’s DMK and the Congress Party are allies and form the ruling alliance. Though both Congress Party and SLFP are holding hands now, during 1987-90 phase SLFP strongly opposed the induction of IPKF. The current leader of SLFP, Mahinda Rajapaksa, was a nominal back-bencher without much gravitas, having returned to the parliament in 1989 after a 12 year gap. I cannot find any record that Mr. Rajapaksa deviated from the party line, and welcomed the IPKF in the island. Politics make strange bedfellows, isn’t it? For this reason alone, I should record the beginning and end of Rajiv Gandhi’s IPKF folly.
Many political follies can be listed during the five year period (1984-1989) that Rajiv Gandhi spent as the prime minister of India. Among these, I’d label the induction of IPKF in Sri Lanka as the prime folly. Bofors arms scandal was the second. Propping up Chandrasekhar Singh’s (1927-2007) minority cabinet of breakaway Janata Dal in 1990 and then pulling its political plug at appropriate time on flimsy grounds was the third. Prompting Chandrasekhar to dismiss Karunanidhi’s DMK cabinet in 1991 was the fourth. Prompting the Central Government to dismiss Janaki Ramachandran’s AIADMK cabinet in January1988 was the fifth. The list goes on.
For dissecting Rajiv’s IPKF folly, I have chosen to provide 4 items of archival interest that cannot be conveniently traced now, after 20 years.
Item 1: J.N. Dixit for the official Indian (pro-Rajiv) view,
Item 2: Mervyn de Silva and Dayan Jayatilleka for Sinhalese view,
Item 3: Time magazine feature by Lisa Beyer, for ‘rest of the world’ view, and
Item 4: Prabhu Chawla, for a not-so-flattering Rajiv view.
Prabhakaran Praised by Mervyn de Silva (in 1990) by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 17, 2009
I think that one reason why Mervyn de Silva had an incisive depth on the Sinhala-Tamil conflict was that he mainly viewed Prabhakaran from his lens as a recent product of ethnic tensions and not as the prime cause of conflict. While many pundits and journalists demarcated the year 1983 as the ‘turning point’, Mervyn de Silva traced the origins of the conflict to the British colonial period in 1919 – almost 90 years ago.
Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha
Mervyn de Silva (1929-1999), the erudite editor of the (now defunct) Lanka Guardian fortnightly, had a keen eye in shifting the kernels from the chaff. June 22nd marks his tenth death anniversary. To pay homage to his memory, I’ve prepared here a signed feature on Velupillai Prabhakaran that he published in his magazine on January 1, 1990. He chose Prabhakaran as the ‘Man of the Decade’, who influenced the events in Sri Lanka and nearby India.
Mervyn de Silva drops quite a few names in this commentary of approximately 1,440 words. While reading this tribute to Prabhakaran, note that the names of those who are currently preening their feathers in glory are missing. Not that they were idling in the 1980s. Guys like Mahinda Rajapakse (b.1945), Gotabhaya Rajapakse (b.1949) and Sarath Fonseka (b.1950) were older than Prabhakaran. But, they were obscure non-entities then and hardly got registered in the eyes of Mervyn de Silva or in his fortnightly journal Lanka Guardian. Two of Prabhakaran’s penchant critiques (Dayan Jayatilleka and Narasimhan Ram) make cameo appearances in Mervyn de Silva’s commentary. While reading Mervyn de Silva’s commentary, you can also note that between 1989 and 2009, Prabhakaran was consistent in his ideals and objective. But such consistency was flaky for his two critics, Dayan Jayatilleka and Narasimhan Ram. It is an open secret that the Sri Lankan politician, identified by Mervyn de Silva in the third paragraph, was none other than the then President R. Premadasa. de Silva’s bottom line was: “Our choice of Prabhakaran as man of the decade is no value judgment. It is a compelling historical verdict based on the turn of tumultuous events…”.
LTTE was a Sri Lankan Tamil politico-military organization which fought a secessionist war with the Sri Lankan Armed Forces from 1983 to 2009.
Long answer:
LTTE fought for a separate nation for Sri Lankan Tamils who dominates North and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
LTTE was the only separatist movement which was frequently invited by International communities for peace talks.
LTTE was the only militant group which lost 30,000+ fighters in its lifetime.
LTTE was the only group which had Army, navy and Air-Force.
Along with fighting Government forces LTTE simultaneously ran a de-facto state in the areas which were controlled by them. It is/was known as Tamil Eelam.
CONTENTS :
Tamil Eelam (de-facto state)
LTTE Military divisions
Origin of LTTE(1970–1983)
Civil War (1983–2009)
Rise of LTTE/ Eelam War III (1996–2002)
Fall of LTTE/Eelam War IV (2006–2009)
TAMIL EELAM (1990s to 2009):
Prime Minister and President : Velupillai Prabhakaran
Headquarter/capital: Kilinochchi
Until 1995 Jaffna was the headquarter of LTTE. But they lost Jaffna in 1995. When they captured Kilinochchi in 1998 it becomes LTTE’s new headquarter and capital.
Image: LTTE’s home-made turbine at the Iranamadu Power Station, Kilinochchi.
At their peak time:
They controlled approximately 67% of coast of Sri Lanka.
They had annual budget of US $200 Million to $300 million. Their main source of income was from expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils.
They had their own Military, Navy and Air-Force.
They had their own Police, Courts, Public Bus services, Immigration/ Emigration offices, Banks, etc.
Tamil Eelam National flag:
Tamil Eelam symbols:
National Anthem:
Eruthu paar kodi, Tamil: ஏறுது பாரு கொடி (look the flag is rising) written by Puthuvai Rathinathurai.
National flower:
Gloriosa Superba
National Animal:
Sri Lankan Leopard.
National Bird:
Greater Cougal
National Tree:
Albizia Lebbeck.
Political division chief:
Image: S.P.Tamilchelvan, chief of LTTE’s political division.
S.P.Tamilchelvan was LTTE’s political chief until 2007. He was also the face of LTTE’s International negotiating team.
After his death in late 2007 Nadesan who was also the chief of Tamil Eelam Police Force(TEPF) was made political chief. Nadesan was the second and also the last political chief until LTTE’s demise in May 2009.
Image: Sri Lanka IGP(Inspector General of Police) Fernando shaking hands with Tamil Eelam Police Force chief Nadesan(R) in 2006.
Tamil Eelam Police Force (TEPF):
Punishments were very severe under the LTTE law. So virtually there was no crimes in Tamil Eelam. Only minor crimes were prevalent. Rapist were punished with death sentence.
LTTE Prison:
Image: Small cells of one of the LTTE Prisons.
Tamil Eelam court:
As the president of Tamil Eelam only Prabhakaran had the power to overturn a death sentence.
Image: Court proceedings against 3 Sri Lankan Policemen(right) who entered LTTE territory without permission.
Tamil Eelam Law College:
Image: LTTE senior leader Tamilchelvan at a law college convocation.
LTTE Home-guards:
Image: LTTE home-guards patrolling on the streets of Kilinochchi.
Tamil Eelam Transport Board(TTB):
Image: Buses belongs to LTTE’s Tamil Eelam Transport Board.
Senchcholai Illam(Orphanage home for female children):
LTTE had opened several orphanage homes known as Senchcholai illam for orphaned female children who lost their parents due to civil war.
Image: Prabhakaran inaugurating one of the Senchcholai Illam.
Bank of Tamil Eelam:
Thuyilum Illam(Resting place):
Image: One of the LTTE cemeteries with oil lamps during one of the Heroes Day.
2) LTTE MILITARY DIVISIONS:
Image: Prabhakaran explaining an attack plan to his top commanders.
Leopard Commandos (Siruththai Padaai):
Image: Unlike other LTTE units(including black Tigers) which had uniforms with Tigers stripes, Leopard commandos had special uniforms with leopard stripes.
Leopard commandos were elite commandos of LTTE equivalent to special commandos of any state military. They were highly trained to launch precise operations.
LTTE Engineering Corps:
Image: Col.Raju(1961–2002) leader of LTTE’S Engineering Corps.
Image: Underdeveloped LTTE submarine at a War memorial
Image: Armored LTTE truck made for transportation of LTTE VIPs.
Image: This deadly suicide boat was also the brain-child Col.Raju.
LTTE had produced several home-made weapons. Most of them were made of materials available locally.
Charles Anthony Brigade:
Image: Fighters of Charles Anthony Brigade at a military exercise.
Charles Anthony Brigade was the special force of LTTE. It was named after Prabhakaran’s best friend Charles Anthony who died in 1983. Charles Anthony brigade was the first Non-state regiment to win a conventional battle when they won the Second Battle of Elephant Pass in 2000.
Kittu Artillery Unit:
Prabhakaran asked Col.Bhanu to form a special artillery and armor unit. Bhanu formed an artillery unit with the help of artillery pieces captured from army. Later they started to buy artillery guns from black market and assembled them in Sri Lanka.
Jeyanthan Brigade:
Image: LTTE fighters of Jeyanthan Brigade.
Jeyanthan brigade was exclusively made of cadres from Eastern province. Even when eastern LTTE chief Karuna revolted against Prabhakaran in 2004 these eastern fighters remained loyal to Prabhakaran (mainstream LTTE).
Jeyanthan Brigade remained one of the elite regiments of LTTE. This Brigade had played vital roles in LTTE’s victories in several battles.
Imaran-Pandian Regiment (Bodyguards of Prabhakaran):
Image: Prabhakaran with his bodyguard Gaddafi. Until 2005 Gaddafi was special commander of Imran-Pandian unit which was specially created to protect Prabhakaran.
Image: One of the bodyguards of Prabhakaran.
Female Tamil Tigers:
Females were recruited regularly by LTTE. It had two exclusive female brigades: Malathy brigade and Sothiya brigade.
Image: Female Tigers of Lt.Malathi Regiment.
Victor Anti-Tank Regiment(RPG Unit):
Kutty Sri Mortar Unit:
Anbarasi Regiment (Anti-aircraft Unit):
Image : LTTE fighter aiming a MANPAD (surface to air missile launcher)
Image: Female Tiger with Anti-Aircraft gun.
Deep Penetration Unit:
Image: One of the early LTTE deep penetration units passing information after returning from behind enemy line. The white arm band helped to avoid friendly fire while returning back to LTTE held areas.
LTTE NAVY (Sea Tigers) :
Tamil Sea Tigers was one of the most effective non-state navies ever formed, inflicting significant damage and heavy casualties on government forces during the Sri Lankan Civil War. Using fast attack craft, human torpedoes and frogmen combined with innovative and bold tactics, the Sea Tigers sank about 30 navy patrol boats as part of the Tamil rebellion to create an independent state.
Image: Sea Tiger chief Col. Soosai.
Image: Female sea tigers.
AIR-FORCE (Air-tigers):
LTTE was the first and only militant group to field an Air-Force of its own.
Image: LTTE’s Iranamadu Air-strip which is now renovated by the Sri Lankan Government and currently used by Air-Force.
Image: Air Tigers on their maiden flight in 2007
BLACK TIGERS (Suicide Squads):
Black Tigers were most disciplined elite force of LTTE. They had assassinated two top leaders of World: ex-Indian PM Mr.Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka Mr.Premadasa.
As suicide attracts empathy Prabhakaran had coined a new Tamil term “thaat kodaai” means self-gift or gifting self. It was also believed that Prabhakaran was inspired by Chevars of Tamil Chera Kingdom who became suicide attacker and defeated the mighty Chola king.
Image: 21 Black Tigers team which was involved in the Anuradhapuram raid in 2007.
Image: Prabhakaran paying homage to the 10 slain Black tigers who raided Government forces’ Vanni SF HQ in 2008.
Infantry :
Image: Infantry Black Tigers widely uses by LTTE commanders to break enemy’s front line formations.
Sea Black Tigers:
Image: Sri Lankan Navy supply ship attacked by sea black tigers in 1991.
Image: Sea Black Tiger on explosive laden suicide boat. These suicide boats were too fast and too low that were almost impossible to detect or shoot them.
Air Black Tigers:
Image: Air Black Tigers Col.Rooban and Lt.Col. Siriththiran who launched kamikaze style suicide attacks on Colombo on 20th February 2009.
TOSIS (Intelligence Unit):
Image: Pottu Amman TOSIS chief 1988–2009.
TOSIS (Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Servic) was LTTE’s intelligence wing and it had very efficient intelligence network. He effectively adopted the techniques of Israel’s MOSSAD and Pakistan’s ISI. They had infiltrated their agents into Sri Lankan Army, Police, important Government offices, etc.
3) ORIGIN OF LTTE :
Sri Lankan Tamils tolerated discrimination for about 30+ years since Independence. But 1970s saw a new generation of Tamil youths who were angry and were in no mood of tolerating discrimination. These youths lost faith in the peaceful agitations by their elders. Suddenly one after another several Tamil groups were emerged.
1954:
November 26, Prabhakaran was born.
People who knew him personally said that he was a born leader with charismatic personality. Even as a kid Velupillai Prabhakaran never minded mingling with lower caste children.
As he grew he started to show too much interest in Tamil politics.
Image: Ancestral home of Prabhakaran where he spent his childhood. Now its one of the main tourist attractions in VVT.
1969:
Entry into Armed struggle at 15 : Prabhakaran joined the group of famous duo Kuttimani – Thangathurai. Both were elder to Prabhakaran and were from his own village of VVT(Valvettithurai).
1972:
TNT (Tamil New Tigers) was founded: Prabhakaran founded TNT group at the age of just 17 with few of close partners.
1973:
TYF (Tamil Youth Front) a political organization was formed by Amirthalingam. It had 40+ youth members. But proactively Sri Lankan police started to arrest all its members. TYF was betrayed by their own member. Due to severe torture by police one of the arrested members gave the full list of the TYF members and it’s activities. Police started to hunt all its member. Prabhakaran’s address was also compromised.
Young Prabhakaran narrowly escaped through the back door of his house when police knocked at his front door. From then onwards he started to remain in different hideouts like friends’ and relative’s houses. Later Prabhakaran escaped to India.
1974:
Tamil Conference Incident took place when Government forces attacked thousands of Tamil civilians who were assembled there to attend the conference . Policemen shot in the air which broke an electric wire and it fell on the people. 7 civilians died of electrocution. At the end 9 Tamil civilians were killed and 50+ were injured. Instead of punishing those policemen Government promoted them. This incident was one of the important events which led to the rise of Tamil militancy.
Image: Memorial at the site of the Tamil Conference Incident.
This incident increased the anger of Tamil youth. They blamed then Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah for this tragic incident.
July 5: Suicide of Sivakumaran, a young Tamil Militant. He was involved in a failed Bank robbery and was rounded up by the Sri Lankan Police. To avoid arrest he swallowed cyanide capsule and committed suicide. (He was already once arrested by the Police and gone through a severe torture by them. So after release he started to wear a cyanide capsule around his neck to avoid arrest). He become the first Tamil militant to die for the Tamil Eelam cause. Later Prabhakaran told that it was Shivakumaran’s death which inspired him to make cyanide capsule mandatory for all LTTE cadres.
Same year Prabhakaran returned to Sri Lanka.
1975: Prabhakaran assassinated Jaffna Mayor:
Image: Jaffna mayor Alfred Duraiappah.
Prabhakaran shot dead Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah at a Hindu temple. Later Prabhakaran claimed that it was his first murder. It was also the first high profile murder of eventual Sri Lankan Civil War. The reaction among tamil people was mixed. Duraiappah was people friendly but he always supported the Government. So after his death most people were happy especially youths.
1976:
May 5,LTTE was founded: Prabhakaran renamed TNT as LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). Uma Maheswaran was made its chief and Prabhakaran become its military commander.
1976–1980:
LTTE secretly conducted training in the forest.
Prabhakaran(c) with other Tamil Tigers during the early days of LTTE.
1980:
Prabhakaran’s growing domination on LTTE annoyed its members. When Uma Maheswaran was expelled from LTTE he founded his own group PLOTE( People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam). Most of the members left LTTE and joined Uma’s PLOTE. Only his loyal friends remained in LTTE. Prabhakaran become angry and disappointed. He too left LTTE but rejoined shortly.
1981:
Two prominent future leaders joined LTTE:
Soosai: (1981–2009)
Soosai was LTTE’s sea Tigers’ chief. He had made LTTE one of the best non-state Navies in the World.
Bottu Amman: (1981–2009)
Young Bottu Amman (L) with Vaiko and Prabhakaran in 1980s.
Bottu Amman was made LTTE’s intelligence wing TOSIS’ chief in 1988. From 1988 to its demise in 2009 he remained chief of both TOSIS and Black Tigers.
June 1, Burning of Jaffna Public Library: On the night of the incident several policemen and paramilitary personnel set fire to the prestigious Jaffna public library. It was seen as the direct attempt of Government to destroy the evidence of Tamil ethnicity from Sri Lanka. Before destruction it had 97,000 books and several irreplaceable manuscripts.
Image: Burnt library
Image: Jaffna public Library after restoration.
October 15, First attack on Sri Lankan Army: For the first time Sri Lankan Army came under attack by the Tamil militants. LTTE attacked an army Truck and killed 2 soldiers.
1982: (Indirect involvement of India)
May 19, Shootout in Madras: LTTE chief Prabhakaran and PLOTE chief Uma Maheswaran were involved in a shootout in Pondy Bazaar in Madras (Chennai). Both were arrested. Due to the interference of TN political leaders they were later granted conditional bail. Uma was asked to stay in Madras while Prabhakaran was sent to Madurai(south TN).
It was the first time that Tamil Nadu(Indian) politicians involved in an Tamil militant issue. Till then Tamil militants were free to roam in Madras or any other part of Tamil Nadu.
November 27, Lt.Shankar become the first LTTE cadre to die in a combat.
Image: Lt.Shankar
Shankar was staying at a LTTE supporter’s house. He went there to pass an information. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by the military. He was able to break the military cordon but not before a bullet hit his stomach. Injured Shankar ran 3 km and reached the nearest LTTE base. There he handed over his pistol to his comrades and fell unconscious because of heavy bleeding. It was LTTE’s code of conduct to avoid arrest and securing the weapon.
At that time LTTE had only 30 cadres and didn’t even had a boat or walkie-talkie. Later Anton (LTTE cadre) was able to transport Shankar to Tamil Nadu in a boat. After leaving him at a safe house with a doctor Anton went to Madurai. There he informed Prabhakaran about Shankar’s condition. Prabhakaran reached the spot and Shankar breathed his last on his leader’s lap.
It was one of those very rare moments when Prabhakaran cried in public.
1983:
July 15, Charles Anthony died:
Image: Prabhakaran’s best friend Charles Lucas Anthony aka Seelan
Prabhakaran’s best friend Charles Anthony had been injured in a bank robbery and police station attack. On a tip off Police got his location and injured Charles tried to run as much possible. But finally he gave up and asked his partner to shoot him. He was shot dead by his partner before police could catch him alive.
Prabhakaran named LTTE’s elite regiment as Charles Anthony Brigade. He even named his elder son as Charles Anthony.
July 23, Ambush:To avenge his best friend and comrades’ death Prabhakaran came out with an ambush plan.
Image: Prabhakaran(left) with Sellakili who planned the ambush along with Kittu.
On the night of 23rd July LTTE successfully ambushed an Army Patrol vehicle and killed 13 soldiers. It was the most successful attack carried out by any Tamil militant group at that time. Unfortunately the mastermind of the plan Sellakili got killed in the action.
July 24–30, Anti-Tamil Pogrom : Death of those 13 soldiers triggered the anti-tamil pogrom across Sri Lanka. More than 3000 Tamil Civilians were killed , more than 25000 were injured and properties worth several lakhs were destoyed by angry Sinhala mobs. Mob did all these with the help of the Government. As a result hundreds of angry Tamil youths joined different tamil militant groups especially LTTE.
4) SRI LANKAN CIVIL WAR BEGINS :
Eelam War I (August 1983- July 1987):
Different Tamil militant groups launched attacks on Government forces.
1984:
Training in India: The bloody anti-Tamil pogrom, pressure from Tamil Nadu congress leaders and Sri Lanka’s new obsession with other countries forced then Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi to order RAW to train Tamil Militants. Along with LTTE several other groups were also got trained in India.
Clever Prabhakaran:
To protect the identity of LTTE cadres Prabhakaran asked RAW to train LTTE in separate camps.
He asked LTTE cadres not to disclose their real names to RAW. He asked them to register their nom de Guerre with the RAW.
While getting training in India he established a separate International network to buy weapons. He knew India was using Tamil Militants so he wanted to get out of India’s shadow as soon as possible.He himself established his own training camps in Tamil Nadu.
Image: Prabhakaran (3rd from left) at a LTTE training camp in Sirumalai, Tamil Nadu, India.
October 1, Prabhakaran marriage: He got married to Mathivathani at Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. She was a student of Jaffna University. Along with other Tamil girls she was staging a fast-protest. When the conditions of those girls deteriorated LTTE abducted those girls and brought then to Tamil Nadu. There Prabhakaran fell in love with Mathivathani.
Image: Prabhakaran and Mathivathani marriage at a temple.
Mid 1980s:
Prabhakaran established good relationship with Tamil Nadu politicians especially then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G.Ramachandran.
Image: Prabhakaran(c) and Col. Shankar having a conversation with M.G.R.
1985:
April, LTTE joined ENLF (Eelam National Liberation Front): ENLF was formed in 1984 to unite all Tamil militant groups to fight together against Sri Lankan Army. After staying away from the ENLF for nearly 1 year at last Prabhakaran (LTTE) decided to join it in 12 the April 1985.
Image: From left Sabaratnam(TELO), Pathmanaba (EPRLF), Prabhakaran (LTTE)and Balakumar(EROS).
April/May, Ceasefire: India intervened and proposed a ceasefire. Eelam War I was halted temporarily.
July/Aug , Thimpu Talks: India mediated peace talks held at Thimphu ( Bhutan). Delegations from Sri Lankan Government and various Tamil militant groups attended the talks. But this peace talks failed as both sides refused to accept other party’s suggestions.
Aug 24, Balasingham deported: After Thimpu Talks failed India deported Anton Balasingham, chief spokesperson of LTTE. Along with him two other prominent Eelam leaders Chelvanayagam and Satyendra were also deported. Tension grew in Tamil Nadu as many people protest Central Government’s decision to deport these people.
1986:
October, TN Police crack down: Police were ordered to seize weapons and communication equipment from all Militant groups present in the Madras city. Along with other groups LTTE also lost all their weapons and equipments.
Desperate Prabhakaran declared fast unto death. As a result various pro-LTTE parties forced M.G.R. to give back all weapons and equipments. LTTE was more than happy as along with their own weapons they also got weapons of other militant groups.
1987:
June 5, Operation Poomalai: Indian Air Force air-dropped several tonnes of food parcels and medicines to Jaffna when the city was under siege by Sri Lankan Forces.
July 5, First Black Tiger attack:
Image: Captain Miller, first Black Tiger
Capt.Miller rammed a small truck full of explosives on a Army base and killed scores of soldiers. He became LTTE’s first black tiger/suicide bomber.
Later every year LTTE observed 5th July as Black tiger day.
Image: Prabhakaran observing Black Tigers day in 2006.
July 29, Indo-Sri Lankan Accord: Indian Prime Minister and Sri Lankan President signed Indo-Sri Lankan Accord. Strangely Tamil militant leaders were not considered. India directly ordered all militant groups to surrender their weapons. Prabhakaran got furious. He directly said “we need India’s support but we never allow India to force their decision on Eelam people.” 29
Image: Signing of Indo-Sri Lankan Accord
Prabhakaran started to sense a threat to his life in India/TN. He knew that Indian Government or Sri Lankan Government could assassinate him to end the Civil War forever. By rejecting India’s biased suggestions he had already angered Indian Government. So he escaped to Sri Lanka. He had done so second time under the watchful eyes of Indian police.
July, IPKF arrived :
From the last July Indian Army started to reach Sri Lanka.
August ,Suthumalai LTTE conference:
Image: LTTE’s Kumarappa addressing the crowd with Prabhakaran and other LTTE leaders present on stage.
Image: Thousands of people gathered to listen Prabhakaran and other LTTE leader’s speeches.
Addressing those thousands of people Prabhakaran declared that trusting India’s promise of protecting Eelam Tamils and LTTE fighters he ( read LTTE) decided to surrender their weapons . But he warned that if Tamil people’s were harassed he would never mind pickings up guns again.
August, LTTE surrendered weapons:
Image: LTTE cadre surrendering his weapon on 15th August 1987 at Jaffna.
Dirty game : Though India, LTTE and SriLanka agreed to follow the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord but they cheated each other on their back.
LTTE : Prabhakaran was secretly eliminating leaders of his rival groups.
India: IPKF was secretly arming LTTE’s rival groups to defeat LTTE if Prabhakaran refused to obey India.
Sri Lanka: Secretly helped sinhalese families in settling down in Tamil areas to unbalance Tamil dominance.
September 26, Theelipan: A Tamil activist on 15th september started a hunger strike to protect the rights of Tamil people. Indian Army commanders not only ignored him but also refused to meet him. After refusing food and water for 12 days he died on 26th September. He died right in front of hundreds of people who had gathered to support him. This incident turns the anger of Tamil people against Indian Army. They felt betrayed
Image: Prabhakaran talking with Thileepan who was observing hunger strike at that time.
October 5, Mass suicide by LTTE fighters: 17 LTTE fighters were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy. Prabhakaran asked Indian Army to get his cadres released. But his request was ignored. Later when Sri Lankan Army tried to take them to Colombo all 17 tigers attempted suicide by swallowing cyanide capsules. 12 (out of 17) cadres died including top LTTE commander Kumarappa and Pulendiran. Prabhakaran felt betrayed now because Indian Army promised to protect LTTE fighters.
Image: Pulendiran(left) and Kumarappa along with other 10(bottom) LTTE cadres who committed suicide. Image published by a pro- LTTE website.
October, LTTE attacked IPKF: Prabhakaran was furious because of the death of Thileepan and 12 tigers. He ordered his commanders to attack Indian Army. After 20 days of bloody battle LTTE was chased out o the Jaffna. In this process 319 Indian soldiers and 1100 LTTE fighters died at the end of October.
October 11–12, Jaffna Helidrop:
Image: Football ground where Indian soldiers were surrounded by LTTE cadres and their sharpshooters. The mission turn out to be the most disastrous mission in the history of Indian Army.
Clueless India: India was clueless about its mission in India. Mr.Dixit was sent to Colombo to convince Sri Lankan President to implement all the promises made in the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord. IPKF was asked to keep fighting LTTE. RAW was asked to keep helping LTTE and convince Prabhakaran to come to negotiation table. All these three things were done simultaneously.When the mission was failed each side blamed the other two sides.
After losing Jaffna Prabhakaran and his troops escaped to Wanni jungles
1988:
When IPKF felt that they were about to destroy LTTE they were betrayed by the newly elected Sri Lankan President Premadasa. He ordered Indian Army to leave Sri Lanka. He even ordered Sri Lankan Army to supply arms and cash to LTTE to fight Indian Soldiers.
1989:
After showing huge resistance to Indian Army Prabhakaran and his commanders successfully remained 2 steps ahead of IPKF in the Wanni jungles.
Image: Prabhakaran with Gadaffi at an undisclosed location in the forest.
People’s Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT): A political party was launched by LTTE. Mahattaya was made its president while Yogi become its first secretary.
Image: From left Mahattaya , Prabhakaran and Yogi.
November, 27: 1st Maveerar Naal:
Image: Prabhakaran giving his first Maveerar Naal speech
Prabhakaran was highly impressed by his LTTE commanders and cadres. They had survived 2 years of onslaught by World’s third largest army. So he decided to observe first maveerar naal or Heroes Day to commemorate the fallen Tamil Tigers.
27th November the date on which LTTE lost its first fighter Lt. Shankar was chosen as Heroes Day. Till then LTTE had lost 1307 cadres. Hundreds of LTTE fighters gathered at a secret location in the forest to observe first Heroes Day.
Till then Lt.Shankar’s death(1982) was not made public by LTTE. Prabhakaran did this to prevent exposing Shankar’s family and other LTTE sympathisers to Government forces.
Famous speech: Prabhakaran gave his first Maveerar Day speech and said whoever betrays Tamil Eelam must be killed. He went on saying that in future if he betrays or surrender to enemies his comrades must shoot him at his back.
EELAM WAR 2 (1990–1995)
1990:
IPKF left:
Once Indian soldiers left Sri Lanka LTTE got control of huge areas in the North and east
Image: IPKF soldiers leaving Sri Lanka in 1990.
Jaffna: Young Tamil Tigers on a patrolling vehicle. LTTE recaptured large areas once IPKF left the island.
October 15–30, Expulsion of Muslims: Tensions grew between LTTE and Muslims in the east. Muslim cadres left LTTE and became Government informants. They refused to follow LTTE rules. Sri Lankan Government used this issue in their favour and deployed Muslim homeguards who massacred Tamil civilians.
Col.Karikalan, the eastern LTTE commander persuaded Prabhakaran to expel Muslims from LTTE controlled areas. So LTTE expelled around 70,000 to 75,000 Muslims from the Northern districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi,Mannar, Mullaitivu, etc.
1991:
Assassinated Rajiv Gandhi: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assasinated by a suicide bomber.
Image: Rajiv Gandhi minutes before his death.
Except the confessions of the accused/convicts no evidence was found which can connect LTTE with the assassination. Till end LTTE never accepted it directly.
July-Aug, First Battle of Elephant Pass:
LTTE launched a deadly attack on the Elephant Pass base. It was the main point linking Jaffna Peninsula with the mainland. LTTE used several armored vehicles with guns on top and plenty of ammunitions inside.
Image: LTTE Bulldozer at the war memorial used during first battle of Elephant pass.
During the battle LTTE was able to surround the base for several days. But they had to retreat because heavy reinforcements reached the base after 18 days.
LTTE commanders Balraj and Soosai guarding a portion of Elephant Pass base temporarily captured by them.
1993:
January 16, Kittu suicide:
Image: Kittu former LTTE commander.
Image: Prabhakaran consoling Kittu’s mother.
Kittu and nine other LTTE cadres committed suicide when Indian Navy forced them to surrender. They were travelling on a LTTE ship on international waters miles away from Indian maritime border.
Kittu was Prabhakaran’s childhood friend. He was the overall military commander of LTTE during the First Eelam War. When Prabhakaran was busy in peace talks in India Kittu served as LTTE chief until 1987.
May 1, Sri Lankan President assassinated:
LTTE suicide bomber assassinated then President of Sri Lanka Mr.Premadasa on May day function.
Image: Funeral procession of President Premadasa in 1993.
Nov, Operation Frog/ Battle of Pooneryn: LTTE ran over a Sri Lankan naval base at Pooneryn.
Mahattaya arrested: Deputy LTTE chief Mahattaya was taken into custody by LTTE. He was leaking information to India’s RAW.
Image: Prabhakaran (c) and Mahattaya (2nd from right) with Tamil Nadu politicians.
1994:
Image: LTTE rebels patrolling the outskirts of Jaffna.
December, Mahattaya executed: After Mahattaya confessed his crime he was executed. Along with him nearly 250 LTTE cadres who were loyal to him were also executed.
1995:
Female Tigers guarding a house at Jaffna.
November-December,
Battle of Jaffna: LTTE lost Jaffna, Army expelled LTTE from Jaffna. Col.Theepan was the last LTTE commander to leave Jaffna. He and his troops escaped with the help of Sea tigers.
Sri Lanka claimed that LTTE had been eliminated completely. But LTTE spent this time in jungle to regroup, train and increase their ammunition stocks.
RISE OF LTTE:
EELAM WAR 3 (1996–2001):
LTTE had grown in size and were became deadly force. They had 3 operations codenamed Unceasing Waves to capture important Army bases.
Operation Unceasing Waves I : To capture Mullaitivu
Operation Unceasing Waves II : To capture Kilinochchi
Operation Unceasing Waves III : To capture Elephant Pass.
1996:
Operation Unceasing Waves I/ Battle of Mullaitivu : LTTE launched a deadly attack on Mullaitivu base. Sea Tigers used its full strength and soon huge fights began both on land and sea.
It was the last base of Army in the Mullaitivu region. So when Army abandoned the base LTTE took control of the whole Mullaitivu district.
Image: Tamil Tigers removing one of the artillery guns from the Army base. LTTE got away with several artillery pieces and huge stocks of ammunition.
1998:
September , Operation Unceasing Waves II/ Battle of Kilinochchi:
Image: Brig.Balraj preparing his fighters for the Battle of Kilinochchi.
Image: LTTE cadres entering Kilinochchi on 29th September 1998.
LTTE successfully expelled Sri Lankan Army from the town of Kilinocchi. Later the town of Kilinochchi become LTTE’s headquarter.
2000:
Operation Unceasing Waves III/Second Battle of Elephant Pass:
The victory at the Elephant Pass was the most famous in the history of LTTE’s history. They had achieved an impossible mission.
LTTE surrounded the largest Military Garrison and cut off it from outside supplies.
Image: Brig.Balraj preparing his troops for Operation Unceasing Waves 3.
Image: Balraj travels through sea and landed behind enemy lines.
Image: Brigadier Balraj on his way to the A9 highway through the lagoon.For next 30+ days he fought behind enemy lines.
Sea Tigers secretly transported LTTE commander Balraj with 1200 cadres through sea behind enemy lines.
At that time LTTE troops were surrounded by 40,000 Sri Lankan Soldiers, Air Force, etc. He fought 30+ days without any outside help and blocked the A9 Highway until the fall of Iyakachchi( front base) and then Elephant Pass(main base). This came as a surprise to many experts as US military experts had predicted that Elephant Pass was impregnable.
Few thousand Tamil Tigers defeated 17,500 Soldiers and forced them to abandon their largest garrison.
After this victory LTTE were highly motivated and very ambitious about recapturing Jaffna(last main base of Army) and free whole Tamil Eelam from Government forces.
2001:
July, Black Tigers raided Bandaranaike International Airport and created a loss of $350 Million to the Government. They destroyed several military and civil air crafts.
One of the destroyed Aircrafts at the Bandaranaike Airport.
This attack was perfectly planned with high level training. They successfully raided the Airport and made sure no passenger or foreign national hurt.
September 26, Assassination of Col.Shankar:
Col. Shankar was one of the few original members of LTTE. He was with Prabhakaran from the early days of Eelam struggle.
He was also the founder of important wings of LTTE :
Sea Tigers
Air-Tigers
Anti-Aircraft Unit
Frogmen of Sea Tigers
Image: Prabhakaran and Shankar (2nd from right ) inspecting powered gliders with LTTE test pilots at Iranamadu air-strip in early 1990s.
2002:
PEACE PROCESS:
The evergrowing military power of LTTE and their victories over Government forces brought Sri Lankan Government to the negotiation table. In 2002 LTTE signed the ceasefire and finally peace returned to Sri Lanka after a long time.
Image: Prabhakaran signing the historical ceasefire.
Image: LTTE leaders (from right) Prabhakaran, Balasingham, Tamilseivan and Gaddafi at a rare press meet at Kilinochchi.
August 25, Death of Col.Raju: He was in charge of LTTE’S Engineering Corps. He also helped LTTE develop its artilley and armored unit.
His important contributions:
Artilley and armored Units formation
Engineering Corps
Leopard Commandos(LTTE’s special Commandos)
Col.Raju, LTTE’s chief engineer and commander of leopard Commandos.
2004:
March 3 – April 11, split: Eastern LTTE chief Karuna Amman announced split with Prabhakaran. He decided to run a separate militant group in eastern Sri Lanka. But mainstream LTTE brutally neutralized Karuna forces.
Without any choice Karuna joined hands with Government. His betrayal came as a shock to LTTE. His announcement made LTTE lose 4000–5000(approx.) well trained fighters.
Image: Cadres(ex-LTTE) of the breakaway KARUNA faction.
Within few days Prabhakaran forces neutralized Karuna forces. Just like he betrayed Prabhakaran he was betrayed by his own commander Col.Ramanan.
Image: Col.Ramanan one of the few LTTE commanders who remained loyal to Prabhakaran when most of the eastern commanders betrayed LTTE and joined Karuna.
Ramanan not only helped Prabhakaran defeat Karuna forces but also helped LTTE track down eastern LTTE cadres who returned to normal life after the split. Many such cadres were identified and were brought back to LTTE .
December 26, Tsunami:
Image: Damaged vehicles(above) and Train left by Tsunami waves.
2005:
Image: LTTE doctor treating a civilian at one of the medical camps conducted by LTTE at Vavuniya in June 2005.
2006:
Tensions grew between LTTE and Sri Lankan Government with both sides often violating ceasefire agreement.
Image: Local Tamil civilians taking food items for the LTTE cadres who were deployed in the Tirunelveli FDL in June 2006.
EELAM WAR 4 (2006–2009):
Fights resumes:
Image: LTTE cadres taking oath before leaving to FDL at Muhamalai.
Image: Tamil Tigers leaving for forward defence lines(FDL) at Muhamalai 2006.
May , EU blacklisted LTTE: Main reasons for banning LTTE:
LTTE intentionally avoided attending several peace talks meetings.
Assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar, minister of foreign affairs of Sri Lanka in 2005 by alleged LTTE sniper. But LTTE denied their involvement. No evidence was found against LTTE.
Suicide attack on top military commander Sarath Fonseka in 2006. He survived the attack.
July, Closing of sluice gate at Mavil aru:
Image: LTTE closed the sluice gates of Mavil Aru which was supplying water to a region inside Government controlled area.
August 14, Senchcholai Bombing:
Image: Sri Lankan Air-Force dropped 16 bombs on a Senchcholai Orphanage home and killed 61 people including 55 school girls and injured 129 others.
December 14, Anton Balasingham passed away.
The only man who could speak against Prabhakaran was gone. He was a true and loyal friend to Prabhakaran. Now Prabhakaran was left with some headless people who misled him about the changes in International politics.
2007:
October 22, Anuradhapuram Air-Force base attack: Sri Lankan Air-Force frequently bombed Tamil civilian areas. As the civilian casualties increased Prabhakaran warned Sri Lankan Government to stop it or face consequences. But Air-Force ignored it. As a result Prabhakaran ordered his black tiger squad and air tiger to simultaneously launch attack on the Anuradhapuram Air Base.
Image: 21 team black-tigers team before leaving for the mission.
Image: Air-Tigers on their maiden public raid to support on ground Black Tigers team.
One of the destroyed choppers during the LTTE raid.
Image: Hundreds of Civilians gathered to pay homage to the 21 Black tigers of Anuradhapuram Raid 2007 in Kilinochchi.
2008:
Proved to be one of the most tragic years for LTTE because it lost two of their key commanders.
5th January: Col. Charles was killed. He was the chief of LTTE’s military intelligence wing.
His vehicle hit claymore mine placed by Deep penetration Unit . He was the main person behind Black Tigers’ success.
During 1990s he was sent to South to create secret LTTE base to carry out attacks in the government controlled areas. He was personally involved in many suicide attacks and high profile assassinations. He was one of the few LTTE commanders who were able to stay in Colombo frequently without any suspicions. Later when his presence was known to the Government he changed his base from South to East and launched attacks on Government controlled areas.
Image: Col.Charles.
He played a vital role in infiltrating LTTE agents in Sri Lankan Army and Police. After his death Black Tigers became just a shadow of their glorious past. They lost the accuracy and failed in many of their last attacks.
Image: Tamil Tigers guarding Forward Defence Line at Mannar, May 2008.
21st May:
Brigadier Balraj died of heart attack.
Brigadier Balraj was deputy chief of LTTE’s infantry. He was also the most successful LTTE commander.
He was involved in many successful military operations of LTTE. He was the main person behind LTTE’s famous victory in Battle of Elephant Pass 2000. He was well known for his psychological warfare. After his death LTTE failed to win any significant battle and eventually vanished exactly one year after his death.
Even Army commanders considered Balraj’s death as one of the main reasons for the military defeat of LTTE.
Image: Balraj’s funeral procession.
July 5, Last Day:
Image: Prabhakaran lighting the oil lamp during the Black Tigers Day 2008 which turns out to be the last such event.
Fights intensifies towards the end of 2008 :
Image: LTTE team at a front defensive line at Vannerikulam in September 2008.
Image: August 2008 New front defensive line.
Image: LTTE cadres giving stiff resistance to the advancing Army at Akkarayan FDL, October 2008.
NOVEMBER 27, LAST HEROES DAY:
Prabhakaran lighting the “Lamp of sacrifice” for the last time. It become the last Heroes Day of LTTE. They had lost 22,390 cadres till then.
2009:
January, Battle of Kilinochchi: LTTE lost Kilinochchi their headquarter/ capital to the army.
March-April: Last major battle of the Civil War Battle of Ananthapuram took place. Army destroyed most of the military units of LTTE .Tamil Tigers lost most of their top commanders. Some of them:
Col.Theepan:
After the death of Brigadier Balraj Col.Theepan became the de-facto deputy chief of LTTE’s military. During the final days of the Civil war he was made the overall military commander of LTTE’s Northern frontier.
He refused to leave his troops behind and killed in the final days of Battle of Ananthapuram. His death was a huge blow to LTTE.
Col.Gaddafi aka Aathavan:
Gaddafi was one of the senior commanders of LTTE. He was Prabhakaran’s bodyguard from 1980s to 2005. When Imran Pandian Regiment was formed in 1992 he become its special commander until 2005.
He was one of the 10 LTTE cadres who were trained by India(RAW) to use Anti-aircraft missiles. He become a specialist in using SAM7 missiles and shot down several Sri Lankan Air-Force planes. He was also killed in the battle.
Image: Prabhakaran’s bodyguard Gaddafi (extreme left) during LTTE chief’s famous speech at Suthumalai in 1987.
May 2009, Final battle:
LTTE fighters along with thousands of civilians were trapped in a small area. Surrendering LTTE commanders and cadres were shot and killed mercilessly.
Nobody(except Army) know how Prabhakaran died and what happened to his wife and daughter.As pber UN study 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the last month alone by Army shelling and air-bombardment.
Daring Col.Ram:
Even after the defeat of LTTE in May 2009, Col.Ram, LTTE’s Amaparai district commander was able to hold his ground in Eastern province. With around 50+ Eastern LTTE cadres he launched minor guerilla attacks on Army for several weeks. Later he too surrendered to Army. At the time of surrender he was the highest ranked LTTE commander alive.
Demise of LTTE and end of the Civil War 2009:
New LTTE chief K.P.(Kumara Pathmanathan) announced that LTTE had decided to silence their guns. Thus brought the 3 decade long civil war to an end.
Image: KP (c) with Prabhakaran, Balasingham and Shankar.
MAVEERAR NAAL or REMEMBERANCE DAY:
Prabhakaran and Tamil Tigers had long gone but they had left a legacy behind them.
Every year from 1989 to 2008 on 27th November LTTE used to observe Heroes Day.
Image: Prabhakaran paying homage to Lt. Shankar and other fallen LTTE fighters during a Heroes Day.
Image: A woman looking at the photo of her daughter who was a member of Black Tiger squad of LTTE.
Image: Family members of fallen Tamil Tigers gathered at one of the LTTE cemetries to observe the Heroes Day.
Image: This year( 2016) also hundreds of Eelam Tamils gathered to observe Maveerar Naal at London
Every year on 27th November Maveerar Naal or Remembrance Day is observed by thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Sri Lanka, USA, Canada, India , Australia and several European countries…
Gopal R, Updated May 30, 2017 · Author has 460 answers and 1m answer views
Comment :Sureshrao S, Lead Engineer – Site Project Controls at Construction –
LTTE – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(Ezham), தமிழ் ஈழ விடுதலை புலிகள் – Tamil Ezha viduthalai Puligal
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was one of the many groups that came into existence to fight for Tamil rights. Finally became sole representative of Tamils in terms of Armed Military. It also had Political wing, Their own police, Defacto Tamil state, etc. and are freedom fighters of Ceylon Tamils.
When LTTE is formed??
Formed in 1975 with its base in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, the group vowed to form a separate state called Tamil Eelam
Why LTTE is formed?
It all began when Sinhalese government put restriction on the entry of qualified Tamils into higher studies. Tamils Not given equal opportunities in Government services, Not given equal rights in society, Compelled to learn Sinhalese and Sinhalese don’t need to learn Tamil etc. after getting independence from British in February 4, 1948.
Fighting for their equal rights politically for more than 20 years, Most of Tamils decided to start armed struggle to get their Rights in 1975.
What is the Aim of LTTE??
They are freedom fighters of Tamils and their wish is to have separate homeland for Tamils in Lanka since Sinhalese government didn’t give them equal rights and opportunities under them.
Till date even after the military defeat of LTTE in 2009, Tamils are not given equal rights in Lankan constitution. This itself will explain the true face of a Sinhalese.
Most of the people who don’t know the history will tell them Terrorists. It is a political game played by Sinhalese government by propaganda.
Now why even India is not pushing for political settlement between Tamils and Sinhalese after military defeat of LTTE is a million dollar question??
PAR117363; SRI LANKA_95_0005, Sri Lanka, 1995, SRILANKA-10024NF5. Tamil Tigers on march, Sri Lanka, 1995. “It would be hard to find a contrast which stands out in sharper relief than warriors marching by a farmer quietly plowing his field. The pastoral juxtaposed with the martial reminds us of the dichotomy of the many facets of the human condition. Women give birth, children play, men farm, meals are prepared – all within close proximity of bloodshed, struggle, and hostilities.” Retouched_Sonny Fabbri 11/14/2013
The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has given no prison terms to alleged financiers of the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). The 13 accused were either given suspended custodial sentences or acquitted.
The court on Thursday said accusations of participation in and support of a criminal organisation did not stand and released all of the accused.
It noted that the hierarchical link between the LTTE and WTCC was not sufficiently established. The judges also felt there was not enough concrete proof to consider the LTTE as a criminal organisation.
While the federal prosecutor Juliette Noto had asked for prison terms of between 18 months and six years for the accused, the court did not oblige. Eight of the thirteen on the docks were acquitted of all charges.
The others were only found guilty of fraud. WTCC’s finance manager and one of the accused who arranged loans from Bank Now (owned by Credit Suisse) on false pretences got a 24-month suspended sentence. The president of WTCC got 21 months while the finance manager’s deputy got 20 months in suspended sentences.
The whole process is estimated to have cost close to CHF4 million (4.03 million) which the federal government will have to bear. In addition to this amount, compensation for those acquitted, as well as lawyers’ fees total to almost CHF5 million. The accused will have to pay part of their lawyers’ expenses provided they have the financial means to do so.
During the eight-week trial, which opened in January and closed in March, the federal prosecutor requested sentences of up to six-and-a-half years in prison. The proceedings cost CHF3.8 million ($3.85 million).
The 13 defendants – 12 Tamils or Swiss citizens of Tamil origin plus one German – were accused of participating in or supporting a criminal organisation, fraud, forgery, money laundering and extortion.
During her indictment, Juliette Noto, a federal prosecutor, described a sophisticated system used by the WTCC to raise funds largely for armed struggle from the Tamil community in Switzerland. The Tamil community in Switzerland was systematically registered and its ability to pay assessed. Families who refused to pay were threatened, she said.
Noto cast the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), who are represented in Switzerland by the WTCC, as a violent movement “whose effectiveness inspired Al-Qaeda”. Showing a picture of the WTCC leader behind a machine gun and images of child soldiers, she enumerated the attacks and crimes attributed to the Tamil Tigers. The prosecutor sought to demonstrate the informed involvement of the accused in supporting and funding the LTTE.
Legitimate combat
In their pleadings, the defence invoked the legitimacy of the Tigers’ struggle against the Sri Lankan government’s repression of the Tamil minority. They argued that the money collected in Switzerland by the accused for the WTCC was mainly used for humanitarian purposes. The defence also challenged the prosecution of the accused at a time when Tiger resistance was collapsing in Sri Lanka.
During the hearings, the accused spoke at length about the repression suffered in Sri Lanka and the atrocities committed by the security forces. They kept silent when asked about their specific involvement.
The Tamil Tigers fought the Sri Lankan government from 1983 until its defeat in 2009. The movement claimed independence from northern Ceylon, populated mostly by Tamils. This conflict caused the death of some 100,000 people.
Swiss Tamil Tiger trial has cost over $4 million
The eight-week Swiss trial of 13 financiers accused of funnelling money to the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) has cost CHF3.79 million ($4 million). The verdict is now expected in June.
The trial of the Tamil Tiger leaders in Switzerland ended Wednesday in Bellinzona. The verdict is expected to be handed down on June 14 by the Federal Criminal Court. Citing the multi-million-franc cost of the trial, Jean-Pierre Garbade, lawyer for the defendants, contested the fact that his clients would have to pay the sum if they were convicted.
The whole process was set in motion in 2009 when the Office of the Attorney General launched an investigation against “unknown persons” for extortion, coercion, money laundering and organised crime.
Then, in 2011, a vast sting operation across various Swiss cantons resulted in the arrest of several suspects who were later released. A year later, a delegation from the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Police travelled to Sri Lanka to interview around 15 witnesses.
The accused are from Switzerland, Germany and Sri Lanka and are charged with funnelling more than CH15 million to the LTTE between 1999 and 2009. Some are former members of the World Tamil Coordinating Committee (WTCC), which represented the LTTE in Switzerland until 2009, and include its founder, his deputy and the person in charge of finances.
Heated arguments
During the trial, federal prosecutor Juliette Noto presented the LTTE as a movement “whose effectiveness inspired al-Qaeda”. Showing a picture of the WTCC leader behind a heavy machine gun, as well as images of child soldiers, she listed the crimes attributed to the Tigers. She said that the accused were fully aware that they were supporting and funding the LTTE and that they used threats to coerce money from the Tamil diaspora.
For its part, the defence stressed the legitimacy of the Tigers’ fight against an oppressive regime. They sought to convince the court that the funds raised by the WTCC from the Tamil diaspora were primarily for humanitarian causes. They also accused the Attorney General of instigating the trial at the behest of the European Union.
After eight weeks, both sides outlined their positions regarding the final outcome. The prosecutor wants a six-and-a-half-year prison term for the WTCC’s finance manager and five years for the WTCC president, his deputy, as well as the organisation’s treasurer. Two of the accused who arranged loans from Bank Now (owned by Credit Suisse) on false pretences – which were then allegedly funnelled to the LTTE – are expected to serve a four-and three-year prison term respectively. The prosecution also called for the remaining defendants – creators of financial structures, collectors of funds and an employee of Bank Now – to serve prison terms ranging from three years to 18 months.
The defence pleaded acquittal and compensation for the defendants.
Around 50,000 people from Sri Lanka live in Switzerland, mostly ethnic Tamils who fled the island’s 30-year civil war that ended in 2009. Many applied for Swiss citizenship and as of 2016 there were slightly more than 28,000 people with Sri Lankan citizenship residing in Switzerland. In 2016, the Swiss government announced it would apply more stringent criteria for granting Sri Lankan nationals refugee status.
He was literally starving in Harrow – the wealthiest Tamil area of London. A recent torture survivor from Sri Lanka, he had lost ten kilos in two months in the UK. When he called us for help, he was crying and huddled under the bedclothes to keep warm wearing the second hand coat we’d given him. The Tamil GP had refused to register him at the local medical practice; later he collapsed and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
He was 16 at the end of the war in Sri Lanka, a child. He escaped forced recruitment by the LTTE because his older cousin volunteered to fight in his place. She was killed. He remembers the ceiling collapsing and sheltering in a church that came under fire. He lost his grandfather in the chaos – never seen since. They dug a bunker by the edge of the lagoon only to hit a decomposing corpse – there was no choice but to put a canvas down and sleep there. His injured aunt died from lack of medical treatment; a second cousin was killed.
These are the survivors of Sri Lanka’s war and the deep state’s “white vans” that were supposed miraculously to stop plying because a new government came to power. The victims are hardly sophisticated people expert in manipulating complex and contradictory immigration systems throughout Europe. Like so many others, this terrified Tamil man still has no idea that he has rights. After his asylum interview he took an overdose and it was pure chance someone checked on him; he very nearly died aged 24. It’s when they’re “safe” in Britain that the suicide attempts start – the overdoses, the cutting, the attempted hangings.
These are the Mullivaikkal survivors you don’t hear about. Men who left pregnant wives and new born babies in Sri Lanka years after the war to flee for their lives, men who just finished laboriously rebuilding homes after the war. Despite being tortured once, they still think they can make it in their own country when they are released the first time. It’s now common to see victims tortured on multiple occasions – astonishingly sometimes abducted more than once in a white van.
Ethnic dimension
One man was “rehabilitated” as a former combatant and then abducted in 2016 just after he’d got married. He was brutally tortured and raped in detention. A few weeks ago he was interviewed by immigration officials in the UK and that night went home and promptly took an overdose because he thought they didn’t believe him. He was unconscious in Intensive Care in hospital for 24 hours. The irony is the Home Office did actually believe his account of torture under the Sirisena Government but nevertheless they now say it’s safe for him to go back to Sri Lanka, citing diplomats and civil society in Colombo who say it’s so much better under the new Government. The inherent contradiction in this position is extraordinary. But it also shows the human cost of the denial.
The overwhelming response in Sri Lanka has been to cast vague doubts at the accounts of the survivors of ongoing abduction and torture without actually engaging with the evidence.
There’s an irrational assumption that victims should go and report their violations to an NGO before fleeing the country. The survivor’s testimony is ignored and instead the focus is on the context they left behind. Most victims we meet cannot name a human rights organisation in the north. Some families do go to the Human Rights Commission and file heartrending complaints to no avail. One went to the police only to be told “that sort of thing doesn’t happen under this government” which rather implied it did under the previous one.
The ethnic dimension of the torture is played down even though the perpetrators are quite clear they are torturing and raping their victims because they are Tamils demanding their political rights – the language of the torture chamber is ethnically derogatory. The torturers laugh and joke in Sinhala while they wreak havoc on people’s bodies. How must the survivors feel to hear the international community and the government talk of “reconciliation” after being laughed at while they were screaming and gasping for air?
Part of the denial involves regarding the war-time and post-war atrocities as isolated incidents, not system crimes. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was very clear in 2015 that Sri Lanka’s security forces had used sexual violence as a matter of policy and that the country’s institutions were not ready to investigate the scale and extent of the crimes. Why would the police and military stop such engrained practices overnight, especially when huge sums of money are paid as ransom? A few polite edicts from the President won’t deter people who have normalised and profited financially from brutality. Prosecutions are required; the fact they haven’t happened sends a signal that impunity is still the name of the game.
Psychological damage
Some suggest the recent victims are paying other people to tie them up and burn them with hot metal rods to obtain the scars they need to go to Europe, claim asylum and secure a better life. There is even a scientific sounding euphemism: “self-infliction by proxy”. No matter that doctors say there is no medical proof of this anywhere in the world. Of course, there are some people low enough to lie about being detained and tortured but this doesn’t mean every victim is bogus. In any case being tortured will not secure you asylum in the UK these days – you also have to prove future risk and that’s made more difficult because of the blanket denial.
Most branding victims have multiple burn wounds on their backs and legs when one or two small cigarette burns would be enough to demonstrate torture. They might have up to 30 cigarette burns on their body – often on their genitals or breasts, bra strap area and inner thighs, if they are women. What Tamil woman is going to pay someone to torture her in places that would require her to be completely naked? Many branding victims have also been subjected to falaka – the beating of the soles of the feet – which they say is like electricity running through their body and, while not leaving visible scars, this torture leaves them in pain for life when they walk. They also have rope burns around the wrists and ankles. And if torture were self-inflicted it would not cause so much psychological damage – there would not be so many attempted suicides.
And then there’s the rape – many young men say they didn’t know it was possible for men to rape other men until it happened to them. They struggle to describe unspeakable depravity, risking stigmatisation in their community. They shake, cry and sometimes even vomit when they recount their experiences. It would be very hard to fake the traumatic response to torture and sexual violence.
These are people who have suffered so intensely that most at some point want to end their lives. The deniers should look themselves in the eye for a moment and wonder how disgraceful they would be if wrong. And what an abominable insult their behaviour would be to genuine torture victims still desperately struggling to hold on to life.
The former BBC Correspondent in Sri Lanka, Frances Harrison is the author of Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Hidden War, published by Portobello Books (UK), House of Anansi (Canada) and Penguin ( India).
Once a weapon of war, abductions are still happening in Sri Lanka. Is there justice for the nation’s disappeared?
Sri Lanka has used abductions as a way to instill fear since the days of civil war. In the last three decades, 60,000 people have gone missing. Many families continue to protest every day under makeshift tents in towns across the country’s north.
They hold vigils in the hope of getting justice and answers on their missing loved one’s whereabouts. The conflict is now over, but critics say authorities are still kidnapping citizens who speak out.
Kulasegaram Geetharhanan, a UK lawyer, represents 52 Tamil asylum seekers in London who say they fear for their lives under the current regime. One of his clients, Milton Thusanathan, says he has been abducted twice since 2016.
“They’d lay me on the ground and beat my back and feet. They’d burn cigarettes on my back and thighs. They used a bottle to sexually abuse me,” he says.
Now, the Sri Lankan government is opening up an Office of Missing Persons to investigate and give reparations to those affected.
But families of the disappeared are sceptical. The government has held several similar commissions in the past, but all have failed to address the issue.
Can this new commission finally bring answers to the families left behind?
On this episode, 101 East investigates Sri Lanka’s enforced disappearances.
A license for continued state oppression, intimidation and torture
A joint statement by the Sri Lanka Campaign, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (Jaffna, Sri Lanka), the International Truth and Justice Project (Johannesburg, South Africa), People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (Washington DC, United States of America) and Tamil Civil Society Forum (North-East Sri Lanka)
The Sri Lankan cabinet’s approval of the new Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is further confirmation of the state’s unwillingness to meet its obligations on human rights, to its citizens and the international community.
The draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1978 has been used by successive Sri Lankan governments to quash dissent and penalize resistance to the state. It has been employed disproportionately against Tamils, including journalists, political activists and human rights defenders. The PTA permits arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention without charges being brought against suspects. Detention can, in effect, be extended indefinitely. The national human rights commission says 111 individuals remain in detention but the actual number of detainees remains unknown. At least 5 people have been on remand since 1997, without their cases moving forward. One person spent 15 years in prison before he was charged. Under the auspices of the PTA, countless Tamils have disappeared into the prison system. Many of their fates remain unknown. A UN Special Rapporteur visiting in May 2016 found that severe forms of torture of detainees continued.
The current Sri Lankan government committed in UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 of October 2015 to repeal the PTA and replace it with anti-terrorism legislation in line with “contemporary international best practice”. Subsequently, the EU Parliament Trade Committee (INTA) wrote to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on April 7, stating their expectation that the government table legislation to replace the PTA, in “full compliance with international standards”, prior to the granting of the GSP+ trade concessions.
The latest draft is a failure in these respects. Rather than reining in the PTA’s overly broad definition of terror, the CTA expands upon it, criminalising any activities that threaten the “unity” of Sri Lanka. Troublingly, this offense includes gathering information to supply to a third party deemed to represent a threat to the state’s unity, as well as using words “either spoken or understood” to negatively affect it. Under this definition, the potential for local activists collecting and transmitting information about human rights abuses being accused of engaging in and being tried for terrorist activities is real. Sri Lanka’s past history bears witness to such uses of the PTA and emergency regulations. Calls for federalism or self-determination have been litigated under the 6th amendment to the constitution (which similar to the CTA criminalises speech that threatens the unity of the country) – which in turn will have a chilling effect on free and fair debate regarding a constitutional settlement to the ethnic conflict.
The Sri Lankan state has exploited the similarly broad language of the PTA to crack down on activities by journalists and activists. The CTA leaves the door open for future abuse. This is a concern not only in the near term, with regards to the current government, but also in the long term. A harsh and restrictive terrorism law offers a ready-made tool of repression and intimidation for successive regimes.
It remains the position of the undersigned that any alleged terrorist activity should be prosecuted and punished under the ordinary criminal law of Sri Lanka. But while we demand a full repeal of the PTA, any potential replacement to the PTA must at the very least be in line with international standards. We call on both the Human Rights Council and the EU not to disregard the clear signal the draft legislation sends about Sri Lanka’s willingness to meet its obligations under HRC 30/1, and the conditions outlined for the reinstatement of GSP+, respectively. The government of Sri Lanka, for its part, must immediately withdraw this legislation and – at an absolute minimum – revise its contents in line with international standards.
Eelamaravar 
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