Two Decades and the LTTE (Published: 1991)
Two Decades and the LTTE (Published: 1991)
“Prabhakaran is a historical hero of a crucial decade that ended in the nineties, when he dominated the political destiny of Tamileelam and the Sinhala nation.”
Mervyn de Silva, a famous writer and editor of the ‘Lanka Guardian’ magazine, pays tribute to Prabhakaran.
Prabhakaran is hailed as the hero of the decade for being the hero who stood at the center of the storm and led the Tamils’ liberation struggle. “This is not my personal psychological assessment. When viewed based on the earthquake-like events that shook the island of Sri Lanka, this is the inevitable verdict of history,” says Mervyn.
No one can deny the historical fact that the LTTE movement led the national liberation struggle with the speed and ferocity of a storm in the eighties. It is also a fair assessment that Prabhakaran is the historical hero of this period. The history of Prabhakaran and the LTTE is not confined to a single decade. The history of the LTTE, which began with the violent political movements that emerged in the early seventies and has been moving forward with gradual development until today, spans almost two decades.
During these two decades, the political history of the people of Tamileelam faced major turning points. These historical turning points and the huge impacts they had on the national struggle are intertwined with the historical emergence, development and rise of the LTTE.
The decade of the seventies was a period that brought state repression and armed resistance to the forefront. When repression worsens, resistance also naturally grows and intensifies. This has been a historical norm in all revolutionary struggles. Based on this principle of contradiction, it would be useful for us to review the history of this decade. Only then can we understand the historical necessity of the armed struggle and the conditions for the emergence of the LTTE movement.
The events of the early seventies had a profound impact on the political life of the people of Tamileelam. The new ferocity of chauvinism during this period intensified the oppression of the Tamils. As a result, the national contradiction between the Tamil and Sinhalese nations became sharper. This created strong conditions for the rise of violent politics in Tamileelam.
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