Col. Thileepan (Rasaiyya Partheepan) The fighter who gave back with non-violent war against the occupying army.

Col. Thileepan (Rasaiyya Partheepan) The fighter who gave back with non-violent war against the occupying army.

15-09-1987 at 8.30 am, a day of sacrifice that should be engraved in the history of the Tamileelam struggle. The day when Lt. Col. Thileepan (Rasaiyya Partheepan), the Jaffna District Political Unit in-charge of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, came in front of the ‘Kandhan Karunai’ house on Nallur North Road, under the name of the Peace Corps, and waged a war against the Indian occupying army.

It was on this day that Thileepan, with the aim of restoring the lost rights of the people of Tamileelam, began a hunger strike until death. He was putting forward five legitimate demands of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to attract the attention of the Indian people:

Those detained or imprisoned under the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be released.
The Sinhalese resettlement in the Tamil homeland in the name of rehabilitation should be stopped immediately.
All work called ‘rehabilitation’ should be stopped until the interim government is established.
The opening of police stations in the North and East Provinces should be stopped immediately.
The weapons given to the so-called Home Guards under the supervision of the Indian Peace Keeping Force should be withdrawn and the military police stations located in Tamil villages and schools should be closed.

These are the demands put forward by the LTTE.

A memorandum containing these demands was sent to the Indian Ambassador on 13.09.1987. He was given 24 hours to respond. But no response was received from the ambassador until 15.09.1987. That is why the Thileepan decided to hold a hunger strike and protest until death. Here began Thileepan’s journey of sacrifice.

The fact that Thileepan, who had undertaken a journey of sacrifice to open the eyes of Indian domination, did not drink a single drop of water for 12 days. While burning the fire of freedom of the Tamil-speaking people, he died and became maveeran on 26.09.1987. This is one of the important records in the history of the Tamileelam national liberation struggle. That became the stained history of the Indian government, which prided itself on being the guardian of democracy. Even Mahatma Gandhi, who was the root of non-violent struggle, conducted his hunger strikes by drinking water and food. Why? Even the legendary struggle hero ‘Bobby Sands’, conducted his hunger strike in prison by drinking water and food. But our maveeran, Nallur Kandan, refused medical facilities and did not drink water, and went on a hunger strike, creating a new chapter in the world and adding pride not only to the freedom struggle but also to our nation.

With the martyrdom of Thileepan, a people’s revolution broke out. This hunger strike event awakened the people of Tamileelam against the armed threat of the Indian occupation army. It fostered the uprising for the national liberation struggle. Before Thileepan’s moral struggle, the Indian army and the Indian government were defeated. Thileepan’s 12-day last march stood in support of the people’s struggle against the Indian army.

Thileepan’s moral struggle created revolutionary waves throughout Tamileelam. The Mothers’ Front was particularly agitated against the massacre. Thileepan declared, ‘I am ready to die for the people’, and demonstrated it. Mother Bhoopathi also fasted until her death and died on the 31st day. This is also an important record in the history of the Tamileelam national liberation struggle.

Thileepan’s dream of a people’s revolution breaking out despite the armed threats of the Indian forces was fulfilled and made Mother Bhoopathi proud. The people of Tamileelam have unitedly started carrying the work left behind by Thileepan. The people’s revolution that broke out that day did not stop with the withdrawal of the Indian army. It is raging like a storm in the 2nd phase of the Eelam war with the Sri Lankan army.

Following Thileepan’s martyrdom, the message sent by Tamil National Leader Prabhakaran to the people of Tamileelam is as follows:

“Our freedom movement has made so many wonderful sacrifices. It has created heroic epics. It has made dedications. All these are heroic achievements that we have achieved in the history of our armed struggle. But the sacrifice of my dear comrade Thileepan is different, amazing, and new in the history of our struggle.

Thileepan sacrificed himself in the field of moral struggle and made an unequaled great sacrifice. His death is a great historical event, an event that brought about a revolutionary turn in the history of the Tamileelam struggle. An event that awakened the national soul of Tamileelam. An event that made the country of India bow its head. An event that shook the conscience of the world.

For whom did Thileepan die? Why did he die? What is the meaning of his death? Why was his death a great event, a revolutionary event that made all the people rise?

Thileepan died for you. He died for your rights. He died for your land. He died for your security, for your freedom, and for your honor.

He made the highest and most noble sacrifice a person can make for the people he loved, for the land he loved.

I know that a life is noble. But what is nobler than life is our rights, our freedom, our honor. Thileepan is a fire of ideals.

I loved Thileepan deeply. I have immense affection for him as a determined ideal fighter. Whenever he is dying, my soul is troubled. But I did not see Thileepan as an ordinary human being. I saw him as a fire of ideals. I was proud of that. Thileepan destroyed himself as the peak of ideal determination. He did not really die. He lives on as a historical figure who will not die with time.

India expresses deep concern over the death of Thileepan. The Indian ambassador has said that it was a senseless death. He has said that Thileepan would have escaped with great difficulty if he had believed his promises. But what really happened? What is happening? People should know.

Our rights will be given our people, and our land will be protected. The Tamil people will be given the opportunity to govern themselves in their traditional homeland. This is the words from the Indian Government. Trusting the promises made to us by the Indian government, we handed over our weapons. We entrusted India with the security of our people and land.