The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ; commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) was a separatist militant organization that was based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil people.[5] This campaign evolved into the Sri Lankan Civil War, which ran from 1983 until 2009, when the LTTE was defeated by the Sri Lankan Military.[6][7]
At the height of its power, the LTTE possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks, including the assassinations of several high-ranking Sri Lankan and Indian politicians. The LTTE was the only separatist militant organization to assassinate two world leaders: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and former Indian Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi in 1991.[8] Civilian massacres, suicide bombings and acts of ethnic cleansing[9][10] were integral parts of its pursuit to create a monoethnic Tamil Eelam in response to the nation-wide atrocities against the Tamil population.[11][12][13] The LTTE pioneered the use ofsuicide belts,[8] and used light aircraft in some of its attacks.[14] As a result of its tactics, it is currently proscribed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries, but has extensive support amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Europe and North America, and amongst some Tamils in India.[15] However, Human Rights Organizations such as University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) alleges that the LTTE has killed at least 8000 fellow Tamils considered to be traitors to its cause.[16] LTTE founder Velupillai Prabhakaran headed the organization from its inception until his death in 2009.[17]
Over the course of the conflict, the Tamil Tigers frequently exchanged control of territory in north-east Sri Lanka with the Sri Lankan military, with the two sides engaging in fierce military confrontations. It was involved in four unsuccessful rounds of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government over the course of the conflict. The LTTE was in control of 76% of the landmass in the Northern and EasternProvinces of Sri Lanka at its peak in 2000.[18] At the start of the final round of peace talks in 2002, the Tamil Tigers, with control of 15,000 km2 area, ran a virtual mini-state. After the breakdown of the peace process in 2006, the Sri Lankan military launched a major offensive against the Tigers, defeating the LTTE militarily and bringing the entire country under its control. Victory over the Tigers was declared by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 16 May 2009,[19] and the LTTE admitted defeat on 17 May 2009.[20] Prabhakaran was killed by government forces on 19 May 2009.Selvar
Background
See also: Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war
In the early 1970s, United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced the Policy of standardization to rectify the low numbers of Sinhalese being accepted into university in Sri Lanka. A student named Satiyaseelan formed Tamil Manavar Peravai (Tamil Students League) to counter this biased move.[22][23] This group comprised Tamil youth who advocated the rights of students to have fair enrollment. Inspired by the failed 1971 insurrection of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, it was the first Tamil insurgent group of its kind.[24] It consisted of around 40 Tamil youth, including Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran (later, the leader of the Sivakumaran group), K. Pathmanaba (one of the founder members of EROS) and Velupillai Prabhakaran, an 18 years old youth from single caste orientedValvettithurai (VVT).[25] In 1972, Prabhakaran teamed up with Chetti Thanabalasingam, Jaffna to form the Tamil New Tigers (TNT), with Thanabalasingham as its leader.[26] After he was killed, Prabhakaran took over.[27] At the same time, Nadarajah Thangathurai and Selvarajah Yogachandran (better known by his nom de guerre Kuttimani) were also involved in discussions about an insurgency.[28] They would later (in 1979) create a separate organization named Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization(TELO) to campaign for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam. These groups, along with another prominent figure of the armed struggle, Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran, were involved in several hit-and-run operations against pro-government Tamil politicians, Sri Lanka Police and civil administration during early 1970s. These attacks included throwing bombs at the residence and the car of SLFPJaffna Mayor, Alfred Duraiyappah, placing a bomb at a carnival held in the stadium of Jaffna city (now "Duraiyappah stadium") and Neervely bank robbery. 1974 Tamil conference incident also sparked the anger of these militant groups. Both Sivakumaran and Prabhakaran attempted to assassinate Duraiyappah in revenge for the incident. Sivakumaran committed suicide on 5 June 1974 to evade capture by Police.[29] But on 27 July 1975, Prabhakaran was able to assassinate Duraiyappah, who was branded as a "traitor" by TULF and the insurgents alike. Prabhakaran himself shot and killed the Mayor when he was visiting the Krishnan temple at Ponnalai.[26][30]
[edit]Founding and rise to power
See also: Sri Lankan civil war and List of commanders of the LTTE
The LTTE was founded on 5 May 1976 as the successor to the Tamil New Tigers. Uma Maheswaran became its leader, and Prabhakaran, its military commander.[31] A 5-member committee was also appointed. Prabhakaran sought to "refashion the old TNT/new LTTE into an elite, ruthlessly efficient, and highly professional fighting force",[30] notes the terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna. Prabhakaran kept the numbers of the group small, and maintained a high standard of training.[32] The LTTE carried out low-key attacks against various government targets, including policemen and local politicians. The ideology of the Tamil Tigers emerged from Marxist-Leninist thought, and was secular. Its leadership was atheist.[33][34][35]
[edit]TULF support
TULF leader Appapillai Amirthalingam, who was in 1977 elected as the Opposition leader of Sri Lanka Parliament clandestinely supported the LTTE. Amirthalingam believed that if he could exercise control over the Tamil insurgent groups, it would enhance his political position and pressurize government to agree to his demand, which was to grant political autonomy to Tamils. Thus, he even provided letters of reference to the LTTE and to other Tamil insurgent groups to raise funds. Both Uma Maheswaran (an ex-surveyor) and Urmila Kandiah, first female member of the LTTE were prominent members of the TULF youth wing.[26] Maheswaran was the secretary of TULF Tamil Youth Forum, Colombo brach. Amirthalingam introduced Prabhakaran to N.S. Krishnan, who later became the first international representative of LTTE. It was Krishnan, who introduced Prabhakaran to Anton Balasingham, who later became the chief political strategist and chief negotiator of LTTE. LTTE was split for the first time in 1979. Uma Maheswaran was found out having a love affair with Urmila Kandiah. It was against the code of conduct of LTTE. Prabhakaran ordered him to leave the organization.[36] Uma Maheswaran left LTTE and formed People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) in 1980.
Meanwhile in 1980, J. R. Jayawardene government agreed to devolve power by the means of District Development Councils upon the request of TULF. But by this time, LTTE and other insurgent groups were not ready to accept any solution less than a separate state. LTTE had no faith in any sort of political solution. Thus the TULF and other Tamil political parties were steadily marginalised and insurgent groups emerged as the major force in North. During this period of time several other insurgent groups came into the arena, such as EROS (1975), TELO (1979), PLOTE (1980), EPRLF(1980) and TELA (1982). LTTE ordered civilians to boycott the local government elections of 1983 in which even TULF contested. Voter turnout became as low as 10%. Thereafter, Tamil political parties had very little room to represent Tamil people as insurgent groups took over their position.[26]asa Pathmanathan succeeded Prabhakaran as leader of the LTTE, but he was arrested in Malaysia and handed over to the Sri Lankan government in August 2009.[21] Significant number of LTTE survivors are currently provided asylum by the government of Norway.
Indian support
− Due to various geo-political reasons (see Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War), from August 1983 to May 1987, India, through its intelligence agencyResearch and Analysis Wing (RAW), provided arms, training and monetary support to 6 Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups including LTTE. During that period, 32 camps were set up all over India to train these militants.[39]495 LTTE militants, including 90 women were trained in 10 batches.[40] First batch of Tigers were trained in Establishment 22 based in Chakrata, Uttarakhand. Second batch including LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman[41] was trained in Himachal Pradesh. Prabakaran himself visited the first and the second batch of Tamil Tigers to see them training.[42] 8 other batches of LTTE were trained in Tamil Nadu. Ironically, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam alias Dhanu, who carried out theassassination of Rajiv Gandhi and Sivarasan - the key conspirator were among the militants trained by RAW, in Nainital, India.[43]
− − In April 1984, the LTTE formally joined a common militant front, the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF), a union between LTTE, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam(PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).[44]
[edit]Clashes with other insurgent groups
TELO usually held the Indian view of problems and pushed for India's view during peace talks with Sri Lanka and other groups. LTTE denounced the TELO view and claimed that India was only acting on its own interest. As a result, the LTTE broke from the ENLF in 1986. Soon fighting broke out between the TELO and the LTTE and clashes occurred over the next few months.[45][46] As a result almost the entire TELO leadership and at least 400 TELO militants were killed by the LTTE.[47][48][49] The LTTE attacked training camps of the EPRLF a few months later, forcing it to withdraw entirely from theJaffna peninsula.[44][47] The LTTE then demanded that all remaining Tamil insurgents join the LTTE. Notices were issued to that effect in Jaffna and in Madras, where the Tamil groups were headquartered. With the major groups including the TELO and EPRLF eliminated, the remaining Tamil insurgent groups, numbering around 20, were then absorbed into the LTTE, making Jaffna an LTTE-dominated city.[47]
LTTE's practice such as wearing a cyanide vial for consumption if captured appealed to the Tamil people as dedication and sacrifice. Another practice that increased support by Tamil people was LTTE's members taking an oath of loyalty which stated LTTE’s goal of establishing a state for the Sri Lankan Tamils.[45][50] In 1987 LTTE established the Black Tigers, a unit responsible for conducting suicide attacks against political, economic, and military targets,[51] and launched its first suicide attack against a Sri Lanka Army camp, killing 40 soldiers. LTTE members are prohibited from smoking cigarettes and consuming alcohol in any form. LTTE members must avoid their family members and avoid communication with them. Initially LTTE members were prohobited from having love affairs or sexual relationships as it could deter their prime motive. But this policy had changed since Prabhakaran married Mathivathani Erambu in October 1984.[36]
[edit]IPKF period
Main article: Indian Peace Keeping Force
In July 1987, faced with growing anger among its own Tamils and a flood of refugees,[44] India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time by initially airdropping food parcels into Jaffna. After negotiations, India and Sri Lanka entered into the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. Though the conflict was between the Tamil and Sinhalese people, India and Sri Lanka signed the peace accord instead of India influencing both parties to sign a peace accord among themselves. The peace accord assigned a certain degree of regional autonomy in the Tamil areas, with Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) controlling the regional council and called for the Tamil militant groups to lay down their arms. India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), part of the Indian Army, to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament and to watch over the regional council.[52][53]
[edit]War against IPKF
Although the Tamil militant organizations did not have a role in the Indo-Lanka agreement,[45] most groups including EPRLF, TELO, EROS and PLOTE accepted it.[54][55] But LTTE rejected the accord because they opposed EPRLF's Varadaraja Perumal as the chief ministerial candidate for the mergedNorth Eastern Province.[53] The LTTE named three alternate candidates for the position, which India rejected.[54] The LTTE subsequently refused to hand over their weapons to the IPKF.[45] After 3 months of tensions, LTTE declared war on IPKF on 7 October 1987.[56]
Thus LTTE found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army, and launched its first attack on an Indian army rations truck on 8 October, killing five Indian para-commandos who were on board by strapping burning tires around their necks.[57] The government of India decided that the IPKF should disarm the LTTE by force.[57] The Indian Army launched number of assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign dubbed Operation Pawan to win control of the Jaffna peninsula. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations, made it extremely unpopular among many Tamils in Sri Lanka.[58][59]
[edit]Premadasa government support
The Indian intervention was also unpopular among the Sinhalese majority. Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa during his presidential election campaign in 1988, pledged to withdraw IPKF as soon as he is elected president. After being elected, in April 1989, he started negotiations with LTTE. President Premadasa ordered Sri Lanka Army to clandestine handed over arms consignments to the LTTE to fight the IPKF and its proxy Tamil National Army (TNA). These consignments include RPG guns, motars, self-loading rifles, T81 automatic rifles, T56 automatic rifles, pistols, hand grenades, ammunition and communications sets.[60] Moreover, millions of dollars was also passed on to the LTTE.[61]
[edit]After IPKF
IPKF became bogged down in the fighting with the Tamil Tigers for nearly three years, experiencing heavy losses. The last members of the IPKF, which was estimated to have had a strength of well over 100,000 at its peak, left the country in March 1990 upon the request of President Premadasa. A shaky peace initially held between the government and the LTTE, and peace talks progressed towards providing devolution for Tamils in the north and east of the country. Ceasefire held between LTTE and the government from June 1989 to June 1990, broke down as LTTE massacred 600 Police officers in the Eastern Province.[62]
Fighting continued throughout the 1990s, and was marked by two key assassinations carried out by the LTTE: that of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and Sri Lankan PresidentRanasinghe Premadasa in 1993, using suicide bombers in both occasions. The fighting briefly halted in 1994 following the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga as President of Sri Lanka and the onset of peace talks, but fighting resumed after LTTE sunk two Sri Lanka Navy boats in April 1995.[63] In a series of military operations that followed, the Sri Lanka Army re-captured the Jaffna peninsula.[64]Further offensives followed over the next three years, and the military captured vast areas in the north of the country from the LTTE, including area in the Vanni region, the town of Kilinochchi, and many smaller towns. From 1998 onward the LTTE regained control of these areas. This culminated in the capture in April 2000 of the strategically important Elephant Pass base complex, located at the entrance of the Jaffna Peninsula, after prolonged fighting against the Sri Lanka Army.[65]
Mahattaya, a one-time deputy leader of LTTE, was accused of treason by the LTTE and killed in 1994.[66] He is said to have collaborated with the Indian Research and Analysis Wing to remove Prabhakaran from the LTTE leadership.[67]
Military defeat
Main article: Eelam War IV
Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as the president of Sri Lanka in 2005. After a brief period of negotiations, LTTE pulled out of peace talks indefinitely.[86] Sporadic violence had continued and on 25 April 2006, LTTE tried to assassinate Sri Lanka Army Commander, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka.[87] Following the attack, the European Union decided to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.[88] A new crisis leading to the first large-scale fighting since signing of the ceasefire occurred when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Oya (Mavil Aru) reservoir on July 21 and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas.[89] This dispute was developed into a full scale war by August 2006.
[edit]Defeat in East
Main article: Eastern Theater of Eelam War IV
Eelam War IV had commenced in the East. Mavil Aru fell into the hands of Sri Lanka Army by 15 August 2006. Systematically, Sampoor, Vakarai, Kanjikudichchi Aru and Batticaloa also fell into the hands of military. Finally military captured Thoppigala - the Tiger stronghold in Eastern Province on 11 July 2007. Even IPKF had failed to capture it from LTTE during its offensive in 1988.[90]
[edit]Defeat in North
Main articles: 2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive and Northern Theater of Eelam War IV
Sporadic fighting in the North had been going on for months, but the intensity of the clashes increased after September 2007. Gradually, defense lines of LTTE began to fall. Advancing military confined LTTE into a fast diminishing areas in North. Prabhakaran was seriously injured during air strikes carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force on a bunker complex in Jayanthinagar on November 26, 2007.[91] Earlier, on November 2, 2007, S. P. Thamilselvan, who was the head of the rebels' political wing, was killed during another government air raid.[92] On January 2, 2008, the Sri Lankan government officially abandoned the ceasefire agreement. By August 2, 2008, LTTE lost the entireMannar District following the fall of Vellankulam town. Troops captured Pooneryn and Mankulamduring the final months of 2008.
On 2 January 2009, the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced that the Sri Lankan troops had captured Kilinochchi, the city which the LTTE had used for over a decade as its de facto administrative capital.[93][94][95] On the same day, President Rajapaksa called upon LTTE to lay down arms and surrender.[82] It was stated that the loss of Kilinochchi had caused a substantial dent in the LTTE's image,[94] and that the LTTE was likely to collapse under military pressure on multiple fronts.[96] As of 8 January 2009, the LTTE abandoned its positions on the Jaffna peninsula to make a last stand in the jungles of Mullaitivu, their last main base.[97] The entire Jaffna peninsula was captured by the Sri Lanka Army by 14 January.[98] On 25 January 2009, SLA troops "completely captured" Mullaitivu town, the last major LTTE stronghold.[99]
The Sri Lankan Government accused the LTTE of causing a human disaster by trapping civilians in the shrinking area under their control.[100] With the LTTE on the brink of defeat, the fate of their leaderVelupillai Prabhakaran remained uncertain.[101] On 12 May 2009, the BBC reported that the LTTE was now clinging to 840 acres (3.4 km2) of land near the town of Mullaitivu, which is roughly the same area as New York City's Central Park.[102] UN secretary General Ban Ki Moon appealed to the LTTE that children should not be held hostage, recruited as child soldiers, or put in harm's way.[103] Claude Heller of United Nations Security Council said, 'We demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, renounce terrorism, allow a UN-assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area, and join the political process.' The council president, speaking on behalf of the 15 members, said they 'strongly condemned the LTTE, a terrorist organisation, for the use of civilians as human shields and for not allowing them to leave the area'.[104] On 13 May 2009, the UN security council condemned the LTTE, denounced its use of civilians as human shields, and urged them to acknowledge the legitimate right of the government of Sri Lanka to combat terrorism by laying down their arms and allowing the tens of thousands of civilians to leave the conflict zone.[105] On 14 May 2009, The United Nations acting representative for Sri Lanka, Amin Awad, said that 6,000 civilians had fled or were trying to flee, but that LTTE was firing on them to prevent them from escaping.[106]
President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared military victory over the Tamil Tigers on 16 May 2009, after 26 years of conflict.[107] The rebels offered to lay down their weapons in return for a guarantee of safety.[108] Sri Lanka's disaster relief and human-rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe stated 'The military phase is over. The LTTE has been militarily defeated. Now the biggest hostage rescue operation in the world has come to a conclusion, The figure I have here is since 20 April 179,000 hostages have been rescued.'[109] On 17 May 2009, LTTE head of "Department of International Relations", Selvarasa Pathmanathan conceded defeat, saying in an email statement "This battle has reached its bitter end". Several LTTE fighters committed suicide when they became surrounded.[110]
[edit]Aftermath
With the end of the hostilities, 11,664 LTTE members, including 595 child soldiers surrendered to the Sri Lankan military.[111] Approximately 150 hardcore LTTE cadres and 1000 middle level cadres escaped to India.[112] Government took action to rehabilitate the surrendered cadres under a "National Action Plan for the Re-integration of Ex-combatants" while allegation of torture, rape and killing have been reported by international human rights bodies.[113] They were divided into 3 categores; hardcore, non-combatants, and those who were forcefully recruited (including child soldiers). 24 rehabilitation centres were set up in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Vavuniya. Among the apprehended cadres, there had been about 700 hardcore members. Some of these cadres were integrated into State Intelligence Services to tackle the internal and external networks of LTTE.[114] By August 2011, government had released more than 8,000 cadres, and 2,879 remained.[115]
[edit]Continued operations
After the demise of LTTE leader Prabhakaran and the entire top brass of the organization, Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias KP was its sole first generation leader left alive. KP assumed duty as the new leader of LTTE on 21 July 2009. A statement was issued, allegedly from the Executive Committee of the LTTE, stating that Pathmanathan had been appointed leader of the LTTE.[116] But 15 days after the announcement, on 5 August 2009, a Sri Lankan military intelligence unit, with the collaboration of local authorities, captured Pathmanathan in the Tune Hotel, Downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[117]Sri Lanka Ministry of Defense alleges that Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan of the Tamil Eelam People's Alliance (TEPA) in Norway, Suren Surendiran of British Tamils Forum (BTF), FatherS. J. Emmanuel of Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Visvanathan Rudrakumaran of Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and Sekarapillai Vinayagamoorthy alias Kathirgamathamby Arivazhagan alias Vinayagam, a former senior intelligence leader are trying to revive the organization among the Tamil diaspora.[118][2][119][120] Subsequently in May 2011, Nediyavan, who advocates an armed struggle against Sri Lankan state, was arrested and released on bail in Norway, pending further investigation.[121]
.jpg)
0 Comments