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Velupillai Pirabhakaran
Born	Velupillai Pirabhakaran 26 November 1954 Velvettithurai
Residence	unknown (possibly jungles of northern Sri Lanka)
Other names	Pirabaharan or as Thambi
Occupation	Leader of LTTE
Political party	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Spouse	Mathivathani Erambu
Children	Three[1]

Sri Lankan Conflict

Background

Sri Lanka • History of Sri Lanka

Origins of the Civil War

Origins of the Civil War Black July • Riots and pogroms Human rights • Allegations of state terror Tamil militant groups

LTTE

LTTE • Attacks • Child soldiers Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna

Current major figures

Mahinda Rajapaksa Velupillai Prabhakaran Karuna Amman Gotabaya Rajapaksa Sarath Fonseka

Indian Involvement

Operation Poomalai Indo-Sri Lanka Accord Indian Peace Keeping Force Rajiv Gandhi • RAW

See also

Military of Sri Lanka TMVP • EPDP Notable assassinations This box: view • talk • edit

Velupillai Pirabhakaran (Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; born November 26, 1954), most times referred to as Prabaharan or Thambi,^[2] is the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a rebel organization that seeks an independent Tamil nation in part of the territory of Sri Lanka.

He is currently wanted by Interpol for terrorism, murder, organized crime and terrorism conspiracy.^[3] Although during an interview he stated that the LTTE are not yet ready to give up the demand for an independent state, he has suggested that this may be a possibility once the "Tamil homeland, Tamil nationality and Tamil right to self-determination" are politically recognised and accepted.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Caste and religion 1.2 Personal life 2 Sunday interview 3 Press conference at Killinochchi 4 Philosophy and ideology of Pirabhakaran 4.1 Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism 4.2 Militarism of the LTTE 4.3 Modus Operandi 5 Personality cult 6 Criminal indictments 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Prabhakaran was born in the northern coastal town of Velvettithurai, Sri Lanka to Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and Vallipuram Parvathy.^[1] In 1972, at the age of 18, Velupillai Pirabhakaran founded an organization named Tamil New Tigers (TNT) which was a successor to many initial organizations that protested against the post colonial political direction of the country that pitted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils against the majority Sinhalese people.^{Political situation[›]}

In 1975, after becoming heavily involved in the Tamil movement, he carried out his first political murder by murdering the mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, by shooting him at point blank range while he was about to enter the Hindu temple at Punnelary. The assassination was in response to the 1974 Tamil conference incident, and the Tamil radicals had blamed Alfred Duraiappah^[4] because he backed the then Sri Lanka Freedom Party(SLFP) implicated in the violence as well as for allegedly betraying the Tamil nationalist sentiments in the Jaffna peninsula. ^[5]

On May 5, 1976, the TNT was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.^[1]

Pirabhakaran is a member of relatively lower Karaiyar caste in the Caste system in Sri Lanka^[6] although his grandfather was the builder/director of a local Hindu Siva temple. He himself is a lapsed Methodist^{[7][dubious – discuss]}.

Religion is not a major factor in his philosophy or ideology. The LTTE is also an organization that does not cite any material from religion or religious texts in any of its ideological documents and propaganda but are driven only by the idea of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism and considers it as the only single-minded approach and inspiration towards the attainment of an independent Tamil Eelam.

For instance, upper caste Hindus traditionally cremate their dead yet others don't, but LTTE fighters are buried. A few of the leading LTTE officers have been Christians, such as Anton Balasingham. Pirabhakaran named his son Charles Anthony, after one of his most trusted associates, Charles Lucas Anthony, alias Seelan, who was killed in 1983.

There are not many insights onto Pirabhakaran's personal life, either from his interviews or from cited media sources, although it is widely known that he is married to Mathivathani Erambu.^[1] Their marriage was held in Tirupporur, near Chennai on 1 October 1984. They have a daughter named Duwaraka, a son named Charles Anthony and another son named Balachandran. Their whereabouts are not known, but it is widely speculated that they are not in Sri Lanka.^[1]

Pirabhakaran studied up to G.C.E. Ordinary level (Grade 12) at Chidampara College. Pirabhakaran is also known to suffer from a number of stress and fatigue related syndromes such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and TIAs.^[1]

The military of Sri Lanka claims that the leader of the LTTE was seriously injured during air strikes carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force on a bunker complex in Jayanthinagar on 26th November 2007.^[8] The same website further claims that this worsened a case of diabetes and speculates that he might attempt to go to India to obtain medical treatment.^[9]

In 1984, the Indian news magazine Sunday featured an interview with Pirabhakaran in its March 11-17 issue. The interviewer was Anita Pratap, then a rookie journalist covering the Sri Lanka conflict. Pirabhakaran would later offer her many more interviews, allowing Pratap to bring him and his motivations to life. She documented her insights into the conflict in her book Island of Blood: Frontline Reports From Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Other South Asian Flashpoints (2001).

Authorities had been using a childhood picture found in a family album.^[10]

Pirabhakaran's first and only major press conference was held in Killinochchi on 10 April 2002. ^[11] It was reported that more than 200 journalists from the local and foreign media attended this event, and they had to go through a 10-hour security screening before the event^[12] in which Anton Balasingham introduced the LTTE leader as the "President and Prime minister of Tamil Eelam"

A number of questions were asked about LTTE's commitment towards the erstwhile peace process and Pirabhakaran and Dr. Anton Balasingham jointly answered the questions.

Answering a question from one of the reporters about Pirabhakaran's statement to "shoot him if he give up the demand for Tamil Eelam", he replied that "That statement stands"

Repeated questions of his involvement in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination were only answered in a sober note by both Balasingham and Pirabhakaran. They called it a "tragic incident" ("Thunbiyal Chambavam", as quoted in Tamil) and they requested the press "not to dig into an incident that happened 10 years ago".

During the interview he stated that, he is not yet willing to give up their demand for a separate state, but also mentioned as quoted that "There are three fundamentals. That is Tamil homeland, Tamil nationality and Tamil right to self-determination. These are the fundamental demands of the Tamil people. Once these demands are accepted or a political solution is put forward by recognising these three fundamentals and our people are satisfied with the solutions we will consider giving up the demand for Eelam."

Pirabhakaran also answered a number of questions in which he reaffirmed their commitment towards peace process, quoted "We are sincerely committed to the peace process. It is because we are sincerely committed to peace that we continued a four month cessation of hostilities" and was also firm in de-proscription of the LTTE by Sri Lanka and India, "We want the government of India to lift the ban on the LTTE. We will raise the issue at the appropriate time."

Pirabhakaran also insisted firmly that only de-proscription would bring forth an amenable solution to the ongoing peace process mediated by Norway: "We have informed the government, we have told the Norwegians that de-proscription is a necessary condition for the commencements of talks".^[13][14]

Pirabhakaran has not expressed an all encompassing systematic philosophy or ideology as such, but has declared his ideology to be driven by 'Revolutionary socialism and the creation of an egalitarian society'. He joined the Tamil nationalist movement in his youth and quickly established himself as a strong willed militant leader by founding LTTE. His rare interviews, his annual Tamil Eelam Heroes Day speeches, and the policies and actions of the LTTE can be taken as indicators of Pirabhakaran’s philosophy and ideology. The following are important areas when considering philosophy and ideology of Pirabhakaran.

Pirabhakaran’s source of inspiration and direction is Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism^{Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism[›]} . His stated and ultimate ideal is to get Tamil Eelam recognised as a nation as per the U.N. Charter that guarantees the right of a people to political independence^[15] which has been given in their official web page. The LTTE also proposed the formation of an Interim Self-Governing Authority during Peace Negotiations in 2003.

As per his own views, Pirabhakaran has explicitly stated that an armed struggle is the only way to resist an Asymmetric warfare, in which one side - that of the Sri Lankan government is armed and the other comparatively unarmed. He argues that he chose military means only after observing that non–violent means have been ineffectual and obsolete, especially after the Thileepan incident. Thileepan, a colonel rank officer adopted Gandhian means to protest against the IPKF killings by staging a fast unto death from 15 August 1987 and by abstaining from food or water till 27 August, he passed away in front of thousands of Tamils who had come there to fast along with him. This further strengthened Pirabahakaran's resolve that peaceful protests would either be ignored or crushed but never heard ^[16].

Pirabhakaran is widely reported to have operated in India, primarily in Tamil Nadu prior to 1990s. Since his return to Sri Lanka, he has not traveled abroad.

Velupillai Pirabhakaran has been accused of building the LTTE around a personality cult. He is called "the great leader" and his picture is hung everywhere in rebel held areas. He has banned other religions, as well as alcohol and smoking^{[neutrality disputed]}. He has claimed to be the sole representative of Tamil people, and has steeped the entire culture into one of self-sacrifice and martyrdom.^[17]

Those who wish to join the LTTE Black Tiger suicide squad have to write Pirabhakaran a letter of application. Before they carry out their suicide missions they are granted a personal meal with him.^[17]

Velupillai Pirabhakaran has been wanted by Interpol and many other organizations since 1991 for "terrorism", "murder", "organized crime" and "terrorism conspiracy".^[3] He has been issued a death warrant^[18] by the Madras High Court in India for plotting the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May, 1991 and in 2002 Judge Ambepitiya issued an open warrant to arrest him in connection with the 1996 Central Bank Bombing.^[19] The judge found him guilty on 51 counts and sentenced him to 200 years in prison.

• Rajan Hoole. (2001) 'The Arrogance of power ', UTHR(J), Colombo.

Prabhakaran;inside an elusive mind by M.K.Narayan Swamy Vijitha yapa publications, Sri Lanka Tigers of Lanka by M.K.narayan swamy Vijitha yapa Pblications, sri Lanka Island of blood by Anita Pratab Vijitha Yapa Publications, sri Lanka Rendering unto Caesar by Bradman weerakoon Vijitha yapa Publications, sri Lanka voices from a war zone by Nirupama Subramanian Vijitha yapa Publications, Sri Lanka History of Sri Lanka by K.M.de silva Vijitha Yapa Publications, Sri Lanka

Reports

• United States Pacific Command assessment of Prabhakaran
• Interpol Wanted Notice
• Prabhakaran's health report
• BBC Profile - The enigma of Prabhakaran

Articles

• Is there a future for Prabhakaran?
• BBC News Report - Reclusive Tamil rebel leader faces public (2002)
• Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas - Biography of Velupillai Pirabaharan

Interviews & speeches

• A short assorted list of his interviews
• Prabakaran in First Person - T.S. Subramanian - April 2002 - Press Meet

Websites

• Official website of LTTE