Who is this Prabhakaran?
Who is this Prabhakaran?
The Tamil people of Eelam dared to accept the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who did not sacrifice their rights for any petty power, and Prabhakaran as their symbol. That is how Prabhakaran became the national leader of the Tamils of Eelam.
It was at a time when we had read in history and novels about the fighting for right and how they won the battles. It was the time where people sometimes doubted whether all this from the story was possible. It was the time that Tamils of Eelam proclaimed the bravery of the foreign before our very eyes. And one person led that great Tamils.
He was the hero of the Tamils! The one who was praised by the Tamil scholar Pavalareru Perunchithran as the Himalaya Nedun Cheran.
Prabhakaran, the hero who was praised by the Muthamil Kavalar as the greatest warrior since years.
Today, on the birthday of that hero, let us learn about the justification for the freedom struggle of the Eelam Tamils, and the honesty and bravery of Prabhakaran.
Why this struggle?
“Nature is my friend, life is my philosopher, history is my guide.”
- Prahakaran
Many years ago, before the republic, before the time when certain rules were laid down to limit the power of a strong country over a weak country, the Tamil kings did not intend to rule any country that they had captured. They handed it over to the respective land kings. That was the nobility of the Tamils. In that great nobility of the Tamil nation, would a Tamil ask for a country?
Eelam Island is the familial land of the Tamils. King Vijayan migrated from North India. The Tamil girl named Kuveni helped him. This is according to the Mahavamsa, the holy book of the Sinhalese. If so, Tamils lived there before the Sinhalese settled there. The holy book of the Sinhalese proclaims it. The Sinhalese government even issued a postage stamp in memory of it, which was later withdrawn. However, historical records show that over time, the southern part of Sri Lanka was ruled by Sinhalese kings and the Eelam region by Tamil kings. In the country that the British had united for their administrative benefit over time, after independence, all the power went to the Sinhalese. The majority Sinhalese began to oppress the Tamils little by little. They took away the right to education, the right to worship, and the right to land, and made the voteless.
Did the Tamil people of Eelam take up arms after they were taken away? Who is this Prabhakaran and was he the first to take up armed struggle?
Only after the thirty-year struggle for rights, led by the Gandhian father Selva and many other martyrs of the struggle for rights, was the Tamils of Eelam given arms.
Who is this Prabhakaran, and was he the first to take up armed struggle?
Prabhakaran was born in Valvettithurai in 1956 to a Shiva devotee and Gandhian couple, Velupillai and Parvathy Ammal. The boy grew up absorbing his father’s moral views from childhood. A relative is telling him about the tragedy that befell him. His father Velupillai is listening quietly. The boy wonders why he did not fight back. He also hears about the incident of a priest being burned alive in a place called Panadurai.
Facing enemies who attack with brutal weapons unarmed will only lead to more disasters. He never accepted the fact that many innocent lives were taken away by bullets and flames, unlike political leaders who fight for their rights.
Not only Prabhakaran, but most of the Tamil youth in Eelam at that time were in the same chaos. Everyone prepared to take up arms in the ways they knew how. No, the arms prepared to take them up. That is how the armed struggle of the Eelam Tamils began.
Those who were operating in various small groups joined together. That was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Beyond that, many movements prepared to fight for their rights with weapons in Eelam soil according to their principles.
“I always give little importance to speech. We should start talking only after we grow through action.”
- Prabhakaran
How did Prabhakaran become the national leader of the Eelam Tamils?
Although many movements fought for their freedom with arms in Eelam, the Tamil people of Eelam dared to accept the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Prabhakaran as their symbol. Prabhakaran and the LTTE, who did not fear any major threat, did not sacrifice themselves for any petty power, and did not pawn their rights. That is how Prabhakaran became the national leader of the Tamils of Eelam.
When a journalist asked him what it was like to be the national leader of the Tamils, “My wish is to be able to fight together under a selfless leadership that fights for the liberation of the Tamils. Since there was no one like that, I had to bear the heavy burden of this history myself,” said Prabhakaran.
While many legends are circulating about him, portraying him as an adventurer and a great strategist.
“There is a quality among Tamils. They believe that someone will rally behind them and come and save them. But that is not the case. The people’s struggle will win. I am just an ordinary freedom fighter fighting for the liberation of my race,” Prabhakaran declared himself.
“We are not racists. Nor are we war-mad violent people. We do not consider the Sinhalese people as enemies or adversaries. We respect Sinhalese culture. We do not want to interfere in the national life of the Sinhalese people, in their freedom. We want to live in peace, freedom and dignity in our historical homeland with the status of a national people” – Prabhakaran.
Criticisms of Prabhakaran and his responses to them:
When he said about the loss of life due to armed struggle, he said, “I know that a life is precious. But what is more precious than life is our rights, our freedom, our honor.”
He also said, “The armed struggle is not something we willingly accepted, it is something that time has handed down to us. We are not war fanatics or gun lovers. We are always ready for negotiations. All we want is our freedom in our land,” Prabhakaran said.
Even when the Sinhalese army killed not only Tamils who fought armed battles, but also innocent people, the order to kill Sinhalese people did not come from Prabhakaran.
“If we decide to destroy the Sinhalese people like the Sinhalese army destroys the Tamils indiscriminately, we can kill a thousand people a day.
Not a single attack of ours was carried out targeting the innocent Sinhalese people,” Prabhakaran said.
Furthermore, “We are opposing the Sinhalese army that is ruling our land, not the innocent Sinhalese people,” Prabhakaran declared.
Prabhakaran may have been uneducated. But he maintained strict discipline within himself and around him. In the LTTE, he never abused female fighters. He was a loving family man.
“If you make a mistake, look for the mistakes in yourself. Don’t look for them in others.”
– Prabhakaran
The Sri Lankan military seized 10,000 photographs of Prabhakaran, his family, and LTTE events. But Prabhakaran was never seen with a glass of alcohol in a single photograph.
He was a disciplined leader. He was a different kind of leader. Prabhakaran was praised by Sinhalese Army General Kamal Gunaratne, who said, “He had many good qualities that many people should learn from him.” Not only him, but there are many Sinhalese military leaders and Buddhist leaders who still admire Prabhakaran.
Was Prabhakaran only an armed fighter?
Not only the three-armed forces,
* Tamil Eelam Police, Crime Prevention Police, Criminal Investigation Department.
* Tamil Eelam Vaipagam (Bank).
* Tamil Rehabilitation Association.
* Tamil Rehabilitation Development Association.
* Socio-Economic Development Bank.
* Rural Development Bank. He has many administrative divisions, such as ‘Kantharoopan Arivucholai’ for destitute boys, ‘Sencholai Illam’ for destitute girls, ‘Vettimanai Kaappagam’ for the physically disabled. Prabhakaran also ran support homes such as the ‘Muthiyor Penalagam’, ‘Santhosam Ulavala Maa’ (for the mentally ill), and ‘Navam Arivukoodam’ (for the visually impaired).
Prabhakaran also ran his own state with his own radio, television, and newspaper.
Besides, he paid special attention to social reforms and issues related to women’s liberation. He abolished things like dowry and established priority for women in practice. Prabhakaran also appointed women to important positions in the LTTE.
Talking about marriage, “In our movement, there is no marriage based on caste. We do not even have the tendency to call mixed marriage some great achievement. Because for us, marriage is an arrangement where a man and a woman come together, that’s all. Mixed marriage is normal, it is natural.” – Prabhakaran.
His earlier comments will be a fitting response to the allegations leveled against him that he failed to make many political decisions in the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle and failed to consider the global situation.
“It is not unknown to us that this world does not revolve on the wheel of human dharma. Every country prioritizes its national self-interest. Whether it is seen from the rights of the people, human rights, or morals, economic and commercial interests are what establish today’s world order. Both international politics and diplomatic relations operate on this basis.
In this situation, we cannot expect the international community to immediately recognize the legitimacy of our struggle. However, we must continue to raise our voices for that recognition. In an event of unexpected changes in the changing world, the international situation may turn in our favor. Then, the conscience of the world will turn to us in favor of justice,” Prabhakaran said with confidence.
When asked when he estimated that Tamileelam would be achieved, he said: “There can be no time limit or a preliminary plan for the liberation struggle. It will depend on the conditions that develop in Tamileelam and in the world arena.”
Anyway, when asked what kind of country you think Tamileelam will be once it is achieve:
“Tamileelam will be a socialist state. In this, human freedom and individual rights are guaranteed. It will be a true democracy of the people, where all forms of oppression and exploitation have been abolished. Tamileelam will be a free society where the Tamil people will have maximum opportunities to maintain and develop their economy and develop their culture. This independent Tamileelam will be a neutral country and will adhere to the policy of non-alignment. It will have friendly relations with India and respect its regional policies, especially its foreign policy of making the Indian Ocean a region of peace,” said Prabhakaran.
Many years have passed since the war ended. Those who said that the armed struggle was the obstacle to a political solution for the people of Eelam, are silent about the continuation of the same situation even after a decade since it was abandoned. Moreover, the people of Eelam are being subjected to more severe oppression than during the war. Land is being taken away. Buddhist monasteries are sprouting inside the temple. Many are being made to disappear.
When we were strong the political leaders did not give us Tamileelam. Would they do it now? People are saying like that. The voices of the common people are still resounding there saying, “Where is Prabhakaran? If only he had been there during Prabhakaran’s rule.”
(Translation by Tamilpriya)
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