Chudumalai Declaration!
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), issuing the historic declaration at the Sudhumalai Koviladi in Jaffna following the India-Sri Lanka agreement. In 1987, the Prime Minister at the time. Mr Rajiv Gandhi abruptly decided to sign an agreement with Sri Lanka. But the LTTE in the field were not initially consulted in regards to this.
Later, LTTE leaders, including Prabhakaran, were detained at the Asoka Hotel in Delhi and threatened to accept the deal. However, Rajiv Gandhi signed the agreement with Sri Lankan President Jayewardene on July 29, 1987, claiming that this was the agreement. Following this, Prabhakaran returned to Sri Lanka and on August 4, 1987, issued the ‘Sudumalai Declaration’ among millions of people at the Sudumalai Koviladi.
The historic declaration:
My dearly beloved people of Tamil Eelam…
Today is a turning point in the history of our liberation struggle. This is happening suddenly and beyond our control. It remains to be seen whether the consequences will be in our favour.
You are aware that the agreement reached between India and Sri Lanka without any consultation with our people or our people’s representative is now being implemented urgently. I knew nothing about this deal until I went to Delhi.
They rushed me to Delhi saying that the Prime Minister of India wanted to meet me. Once there we were shown this deal. There were many issues with this deal… there were many questions.
We wondered if this agreement would bring a permanent solution to our people’s problem. Therefore, we have made it clear to the Government of India that we cannot accept this agreement. However, the Government of India is adamant that we have to abide by this agreement whether we accept it or not.
We are not surprised by the position of the Indian government. This agreement does not only touch on the Tamil issue. This is mainly about the Indo-Sri Lankan relationship. It also contains the rules governing Sri Lanka under the Indian strategy of aggression. It also helps prevent foreign destructive forces from setting foot in Sri Lanka.
That is why the Government of India was more concerned. But at the same time, the agreement sets out to determine the political fate of Eelam. That is why we strongly opposed the signing of this agreement without consulting our people. But, it made ano difference that we resisted.
What do we do when a superpower beyond our means has decided to determine our political destiny?
This agreement affects our movement… it affects our political ambition affects our form of struggle, it also comes as an obstacle for our armed struggle. We cannot digest the fact that a form of struggle that has been written for fifteen years with bloodshed, sacrifice, achievements and the loss of many lives will be dismantled in a few days.
This agreement disarms us without the sudden approval of our fighters and without the guarantee of the safety of our people. Therefore, we refused to hand over the weapons. In this situation, the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi called me. To him, I spoke openly about our problems.
I told the Prime Minister of India that we had no confidence in the Sinhala communal state and that they would not abide by this agreement. I talked about the security problem of our people and the guarantees for it. The Prime Minister of India made some promises to us. He guaranteed the safety of our people.
We have faith in the honesty of the Prime Minister of India. There is confidence in his promises. We hope that India will not allow the Sinhala racist government to resort to genocide against Tamils again. It is in this hope that we decide to hand over arms to the Indian Peace Keeping Force.
I do not need to explain here how many great sacrifices we have made for the protection of our people. You, our people, are well aware of the nature of our ambitious and sacrificial spirit. We hand over the weapons we carry to the Government of India for your protection, for your release, for your liberation.
From the moment we hand over these weapons we also hand over the responsibility of the security of our people to India. The Government of India also assumes the great responsibility of protecting the people from the acquisition of these weapons, which have been the sole means of protection for Eelam Tamils. The handover of arms signifies a shift in responsibility.
If we do not hand over our weapons, there will arise an unfortunate circumstance where we will have to fight the Indian Army. We do not want this situation. We have a lot of affection for India. We do not want to face the Indian fighters armed. The Indian fighters have accepted the responsibility to save us from our enemy. I would like to reiterate that From the time we hand over our weapons to them the Indian Gvernemnt is responsible for the life and safety of each and every Tamil in Eelam. We do not have a choice except to cooperate with this attempt by India. We will give them this opportunity.
In the interest of the people of Tamil Eelam, our movement may have to contest in the interim government or in the elections. But I am not going to run in the election at any time. The Chief Minister is not going to accept the post either. I want to say this very firmly
Letter to the Indian Army prior to the declaration of Sudhumalai
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