This Tamil freedom fighter was born in Australia
This Tamil freedom fighter was born in Australia
In the London Guardian, a journalist named Gabriela Gamini describes the LTTE woman Adele Balasingham, whom she met in a LTTE camp in the north, as follows:
She is white. She is a 40-year-old British citizen. She is fond of gardening. She carried an AK 47 automatic rifle on her shoulder. She wore a cyanide bottle around her neck as a necklace to bite if she was captured alive. She was wearing long trousers that carried grenades and arms in the belt tied around her waist.
This Tamil freedom fighter was born in Australia. At first glance, she appeared to be thin and soft-spoken. She said she spent her time in the vegetable garden, but her AK 47 automatic rifle hanging from her shoulder told a different story about her.
She has lived during Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war for 10 years. She has learned to survive in mud-filled bunkers. She once ran for 48 hours through water-filled fields without being caught by the army. When bombs fell too close to her location, she was ready to throw away her bedding and run into a bunker.
She has been a guerrilla for the Tamil Tigers, which have been fighting for a homeland for Tamils independent of Sri Lankan rulers since the 1970s. After marrying a Tamil in London in 1978, she gave up a chance to become a teacher in Melbourne and made a living in the arid deserts of the north-east. While studying social studies at a polytechnic in London, she met Anton Balasingham, a political advisor to the LTTE who worked at Goldsmiths College in London. “We were both fighting against racism and neo-fascist groups in England at the time, and that was the reason we came together,” Adele said, adding that Bala had told her about the oppression of the Tamil people by the Sinhalese majority. (Bala is now Anton Balasingham, the international spokesperson for the LTTE.) “I came to Sri Lanka and saw it for myself. I joined the LTTE after that,” Adele added.
Adel Balasingham has lost the hope that the Tamils can achieve their self-rule through political means. She has been engaged in three years of very rigorous military training and has not killed anyone. She will not hesitate to do so if such an opportunity arises.
“I am ready to do anything to give the Tamil people self-rule. I have dedicated my life to the struggle for the right to self-determination. Initially, I did not support the use of weapons. When I became convinced that this was the only inevitable way to protect these people, I welcomed it,” Adel said.
“The rulers rule this country by the power of the gun. These weapons are all we must protect our people from attacks by the Sinhalese armed forces,” Adel said, pointing out that thousands of Tamil civilians were killed during the massacres of 1983 and 1987.
“The Tamil areas are being bombed day and night. They say it is a war against the LTTE, but it is a war against the entire community,” she said. (We were in her jungle hideout in the north at the time. At night, the nearby villages were bombed.)
She worked in a hospital to treat civilians injured in the war. She also helped publish an English magazine called “Voice of the Tigers.” She recruited women to join the LTTE’s growing ranks.
“I felt it was necessary for women to join because they were suffering enough,” Adele said. She set up camps for women only and trained them. They planned and carried out attacks on military targets themselves. “Some of these women have been raped by the Sri Lankan military. Many more have seen their families killed. Therefore, they have the right to protect their people,” he said.
The LTTE has 3,000 female fighters. In a predominantly Hindu community with a tradition of protecting the home and family, the presence of so many women fighters is a big deal. “This shows the strong sense of struggle that the Tamileelam community has,” said Adele, adding that they are advocating for women’s rights in this male-dominated community.
The life of hiding in the jungle, moving from one hideout to another, is not easy. It has become a part of her life, and she will never move away from it. “My brothers and sisters must be wondering what I am doing here; Eelam is my home. I have also learned to speak Tamil. I hope my parents (in Australia) will accept that I will not return,” she said.
“I don’t know what they (parents) think about me. They should understand my situation. I have become very involved in this. As much as this community needs me, I need it. I have learned to live with guerrilla warfare.” She said, adjusting the AK 47 rifle strap tightly tied between her legs, “I am ready to die for the victory of the Tamils.”
– Erimalai Magazine
June 1991
(Translation by Tamilpriya)
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