Everyone has got their share of the genocide. Sinhalese settlements continue in Tamil areas. Idea and history of self-determination is being erased from the ground. US warships arrive in Trincomalee. China’s port is operational in Sri Lanka. The Indian business too has its place in the island.
Published May 18, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated May 18, 2025 | 9:00 AM
Velupillai Prabhakaran. (26 November 1954 - 18 May 2009).
Synopsis: It has been 16 years since white flags were stained with blood in Sri Lanka, and Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed. However, the demand for a Tamil Eelam has not died despite the world turning a blind eye to the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils. Sunday, 18 May, marks the death anniversary of Prabhakaran, who preferred to live and die like a soldier.
It was a sultry May night in 2009. I was working a BPO job, troubleshooting internet issues over the phone for Canadian customers.
The shore wind provided no relief. I was switching between Facebook and a CRM tool when suddenly, a photo shook me. The coolness of the air-conditioned room couldn’t stop my sweat. My throat went dry, and tears welled up in my eyes. The news had broken: LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been killed.
My heart raced. I flipped frantically between news sites and social media. Yes, it was him—confirmed by numerous news outlet. Struggling to breathe, I told myself I needed a break and stepped out.
Sunday, 18 May, marks the day Prabhakaran died.
The Tamil Tigers’ liberation struggle was exemplary in many ways: an exceptional guerrilla warfare model, a well-organised and disciplined movement, political courage to build a de facto state against imperialism, and leadership that took the issue to the international stage.
Yet, global imperial manoeuvers, regional political interests, corporate clashes, racism, and religious extremism combined to make this struggle a nauseating example of how such movements are defeated.
Just as we now mourn the lives lost in Palestine, no imperialist governments truly grieve. Even their condemnations do not translate into action; international politics offer no real mechanisms to punish aggressors. A single stone thrown in solidarity with the innocent feels like an immense effort, and the resistance of small rebel groups offers solace.
There is a haunting fear: that history may one day record tyrannies as victors while those fighting for their homeland are remembered as losers.
That night, as I heard the distant crashing of waves on Marina Beach—like humanity’s helpless sighs—the weight of hopelessness crushed me, as it does now.
The Eelam liberation struggle marks the end of an era of ideals. Today’s stories about the movement, the LTTE, and Prabhakaran may vary, but the facts remain buried beneath layers of lies.
Truth, like a forsaken star, is distant—unheard, unseen, and misunderstood until we draw near.
In 1948, when the British left Sri Lanka, they handed over power to the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese government that came to power functioned as a Buddhist nationalist regime.
In 1956, the ‘Sinhala Only’ Act was passed, removing English and Tamil as official languages and making Sinhala the sole administrative language. As a result, thousands of Tamils lost government jobs. Tamil parties protested, and in 1958, large-scale anti-Tamil riots broke out.
Later, educational policies were modified to disadvantage Tamil students through a policy of standardiszation, requiring Tamil students to score higher marks than their Sinhalese counterparts. Additionally, Sinhalese settlements were deliberately planned in Tamil-majority areas.
As Tamils lost government jobs and educational opportunities, students took to protests. Their faith in parliamentary politics had eroded.
Armed struggle in Sri Lankan politics wasn’t started by Tamils, but by the Sinhalese—specifically the leftists.
In the 1960s, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka split between China and the Soviet Union. Rohana Wijeweera was expelled from the party in 1965 for criticizing it. He started a new movement—the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which now rules the island nation.
The ruling coalition arrested Wijeweera, and the JVP launched an armed insurrection in 1971 in response to state repression.
At the same time, Tamil students were reacting to discriminatory educational policies. Armed resistance became a political tool. Inspired by global anti-colonial struggles in the Soviet Union, Vietnam, and Cuba, Tamil movements arose.
The LTTE was one of many Tamil rebel groups, including EPRLF, TELO, PLOTE, and EROS, all formed to establish an independent Tamil Eelam. Prabhakaran, enraged by the 1958 riots, founded the LTTE in 1972 after Sri Lanka adopted a Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist constitution.
The 9th clause of Sri Lankan constitution gave Buddhism special status. Buddhism had become synonymous with Sinhalese supremacy.
During the 1980s, capitalism had sharpened its grip. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States was at its peak.
Indira Gandhi, who operated under the Soviet sphere of influence, had supported the Eelam struggle. She provided training opportunities and permissions for militant groups, including the Tamil Tigers, to operate in Tamil Nadu. She even described the Sinhala chauvinism of the “Black July” riots in Parliament as genocide.
After Indira’s assassination in 1984, the situation changed. Rajiv Gandhi took office. India moved closer to the US, as the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse. India intended a deal with Sri Lanka to solve its ethnic conflict. The deal’s idea was to affirm a unitary Sri Lankan state, indirectly allowing US presence in the Indian Ocean. But the Tamil struggle became a geopolitical obstacle.
India proposed the 13th Amendment, offering limited autonomy to Tamil areas within a united Sri Lanka. Most Tamil groups agreed and laid down arms—except the LTTE.
Prabhakaran was invited to Delhi. The negotiations were coercive. When an Indian officer smirked and said, “You have children too. Let’s ensure they grow up in peace,” Prabhakaran replied, “A soldier must only think of his duty, not of family.”
Despite pressure, he refused to agree. India even offered the chief ministerial position for the Tamil Province as per the deal. Prabhakaran did not yield. After Rajiv Gandhi signed the accord in Sri Lanka, the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF) entered Sri Lanka the next day. Later, Prabhakaran was released.
The IPKF began targeting Tamil militants, especially the LTTE leadership. In Operation Pawan, India tried to capture Jaffna University but failed. It became India’s Vietnam.
India installed EPRLF’s Varadaraja Perumal as the chief minister of the Northeast. A separate police force was created, forcibly recruiting youth. This upset the Sri Lankan government, and India had to withdraw.
After the IPKF left, the LTTE regained control. Varadaraja Perumal fled to India fearing for his life.
From 1995, the LTTE fought intense battles, reclaimed lost territory, and successfully ran a state. On one hand, it fought Sri Lanka militarily; on the other, it engaged the international community politically.
After 9/11, the US launched the “War on Terror,” branding all armed liberation movements as terrorist. The LTTE declared a ceasefire and invited the Sri Lankan Government for peace talks.
A ceasefire prevailed for nearly four years. In 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa—a Sinhalese ultranationalist—came to power and broke the agreement, restarting war. The LTTE had no choice but to respond.
Rajapaksa gained diplomatic support and aid from 30+ countries—including China, the US, India, France, and the UK—and launched a massive war. He massacred Tamil civilians, committed war crimes and violated all UN conventions.
Channel 4 later exposed that even in designated “No-Fire Zones”, Sri Lanka dropped cluster bombs on 400,000 Tamil civilians.
Even when the LTTE and civilians raised white flags in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lankan Sinhala Buddhist Hegemonic State and the international community ignored them. Bombs were dropped on bunkers. Bodies were torn apart.
In the end, a recorded message from Sea Tiger commander Soosai was released: “The last hours are happening… a lot of people are dying… corpses are heaping up… the people are not being allowed to leave… until the end, we won’t cower…
but our people are dying. The international community has turned a blind eye…”
Then, silence fell. The world has turned blind.
Prabhakaran could have escaped. The Tigers could have compromised with the Sinhalese. They could have bowed to the US. But they did none of that. They sacrificed their lives for a great dream.
Even Prabhakaran’s young son, Balachandran, was not spared. A photo of him sitting innocently and another showing him shot dead point-blank remain chilling symbols of the brutal alliance between Sinhala nationalism and global imperialism.
Even the Sri Lankan left backed Sinhala nationalism. The JVP, now in power, also campaigned against Tamil rights. They refused to accept even the 13th Amendment. The Buddhist supremacy clause still exists in the constitution. Now in power, the JVP pretends to be moderate. Indian leftists wish to believe that.
Sinhalese settlements continue in Tamil areas. Idea and history of self-determination is being erased from the ground.
US warships arrive in Trincomalee. China’s port is operational in Sri Lanka. The Indian business too has its place in the island.
Everyone has got their share at the cost of a genocide.
In Valvettithurai, Prabhakaran’s birthplace, local elections saw promises from the ruling alliance for a statue in his honor—a gesture met with defeat. Did Prabhakaran fight for statues? Can political legacies be erased or diluted by monuments?
That night—and this one too—the same restlessness, the same tears, the same helplessness continues. The need for Prabhakaran, who spoke the enduring truth, remains.
The waves of history do not cease, do they?
(Views expressed are personal. Edited by Majnu Babu).
