Tamil Tigers Political Capital Kilinochi falls to Srilanka Army
January 3rd, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized
The Sea Tigers fast attack fiberglass boat during a routine exercise
- Conflict between Tamil Tigers and government has lasted more than 25 years
- At least 65,000 killed, thousands homeless, 100,000-plus fled to India
- Tigers have their roots in the earliest days of Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948
- The group has demanded a separate Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka
The Tamil Tigers have been invited by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to lay down their arms after government forces retook the city of Kilinochchi Friday, once the center of power for the rebel group.
But while Colombo celebrated the government success with fireworks, within an hour a suicide bomber abruptly shattered whatever hopes the president may have had for immediate peace.
The bomber, riding a motorcycle, blew himself up outside air force headquarters in Colombo, killing two air force police officers and a member of the bomb-disposal unit, authorities said.
Masked members of the Tamil Tigers’ elite Black Tiger squad, which conducts suicide bombings against important targets, march during a 2002 ceremony to mark the Tamil Tiger Heroes Day in eastern Sri Lanka.
The new year may signal a turn in Sri Lanka’s conflict — but it is unlikely to be an end.
The Tamil Tigers have their roots in the earliest days of Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948. But since then they have grown from a political group intent on protecting their rights to a fierce rebel movement classified by the United States and others as a terrorist organization.
The conflict between the Tigers and the government has lasted more than 25 years and left at least 65,000 people dead.
The Tigers are part of the island’s minority Tamils, an ethnic group that has lived on the island for centuries since their ancestors came over from southern India. These Sri Lankan Tamils are distinct from Indian Tamils, an even smaller minority, who came with the British colonists in the 19th century.
Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese have lived on the island much longer than the Tamils and represent about three-quarters of the population, according to the U.S. State Department. Most historians believe they came over from northern India in the 6th century B.C.
It was Sri Lanka’s post-independence government that sparked the rise of the Tamil Tigers. After 1948, Tamils started growing uneasy with the country’s unitary government and apprehensive that the Sinhalese might abuse Tamil rights.
They felt marginalized when S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike became prime minister after winning the 1956 elections on a platform of Sinhalese nationalism. The Tamils bristled at his declaration that Sinhala would be the official language and protested against government policies deemed favorable to the Sinhalese.
Violence and radicalization started to grow during the following decades, and by the 1970s, Tamil politicians were demanding a separate Tamil state — Tamil Eelam — in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, the Tamils’ traditional homeland.
Other Tamil groups, however, sought a separate state by force. Among them were the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), founded in 1976 — and now simply known as the Tamil Tigers.
The violence still raging today intensified in 1983, when the Tamil Tigers killed 13 Sinhalese soldiers. It led to the largest outburst of violence in the island’s history, with hundreds of Tamils killed, tens of thousands left homeless and more than 100,000 fleeting to south India, according to the U.S. State Department.
The government began trying to suppress the Tamil Tigers in the north and east while the Tigers launched terrorist attacks in the capital of Colombo and elsewhere.
Fighting has continued for the most part since then, halted briefly by a handful of peace agreements, some of them high-profile. Under an accord signed with India in 1987, the government gave in to some Tamil demands, including devolution of power to the provinces and official status for the Tamil language.
But fighting continued. The Tamils fought an Indian peacekeeping force deployed in the north and east as part of the 1987 accord, and after years of bloody fighting, the Indians withdrew in early 1990.
The United States designated the LTTE as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
In February 2002, Sri Lanka’s government and the LTTE signed a cease-fire agreement at Norwegian-sponsored talks. But the LTTE dropped out of the negotiations a year later, claiming they were being marginalized. They launched a suicide bombing campaign the next year.
The Tigers stepped up their attacks in April 2006 with an explosion at a Sinhalese market and two suicide bombings that killed a top army commander and seriously wounded another. Weeks later, the European Union designated the LTTE as a terrorist organization.
Sri Lankan government forces engaged the rebels in heavy fighting in 2008 in the Kilinochchi region, once the capital and center of political power for the Tamil Tigers.
The Tigers ran a parallel administration from Kilinochchi with their own police force, courts, prisons and taxes. But after Sri Lanka launched a new offensive against the rebels in the autumn, the insurgents moved their nerve center and logistics bases to Mullaitivu, on the northeastern coast.
After hovering on the outskirts of Kilinochchi for more than a month, government troops retook the city. Rajapaksa declared it a “victory against separatism” — but violence soon followed.
கிளிநொச்சி விழுந்த செய்தி கேட்டு நெஞ்சில் இடி விழுந்தது: வைரமுத்து
கிளிநொச்சி விழுந்த செய்தி கேட்டு நெஞ்சில் இடி விழுந்தது என்று தமிழ்நாட்டின் பிரபல கவிஞர் வைரமுத்து தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.
கவிஞர் வைரமுத்து புத்தக வெளியீட்டு விழாக்களில் முதலமைச்சர் கருணாநிதி ஆற்றிய 11 இலக்கிய சொற்பொழிவுகள் புத்தகமாக தொகுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
“என் தம்பி வைரமுத்து” என்று பெயரிடப்பட்டுள்ள இப்புத்தகத்தின் வெளியீட்டு விழா சென்னையில் நேற்று வெள்ளிக்கிழமை நடைபெற்றது.
விழாவுக்கு குன்றக்குடி பொன்னம்பல அடிகள் தலைமை தாங்கி, புத்தகத்தின் முதல் பிரதியை வெளியிட நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் கவிஞர் கனிமொழி பெற்றுக்கொண்டார்.
இந்நிகழ்வின் முடிவில் கவிஞர் வைரமுத்து ஏற்பு உரையாற்றிய போது மேலும் தெரிவித்துள்ளதாவது:
இன்று கிளிநொச்சி வீழ்ந்துவிட்டது என்ற செய்தி வருகிறது. நெஞ்சில் இடி விழுகிறது. ஒரு தமிழன், தமிழ் சகோதரி அங்கு அடிபடுகிற போது, எனக்கு குளிப்பதற்கோ, உண்பதற்கோ, சிரிப்பதற்கோ தோன்றவில்லை. கிளிநொச்சி வீழலாம். ‘கிலி’ வீழலாம். ஆனால் புலி வீழ மாட்டார்கள். அவனும் சேர்த்து தான் தமிழர். அவன் நம் இரத்தத்தின் நீட்சி. அவனை இழப்பதற்கு நாம் தயாராக முடியாது.
நாங்கள் போர் நிறுத்தம் வேண்டும் என்று கேட்கிறோம். பிரணாப் முகர்ஜி இலங்கைக்கு செல்ல வேண்டும் என்று கேட்டுக்கொண்டோம். அங்கே போர்முனைக்கு செல்லுமாறு வேண்டிக்கொண்டோம். இன்னும் காலம் கடந்துவிடவில்லை.
இலங்கையில் போர் நிறுத்தத்தை எவ்வளவு வலியுறுத்துகிறோமோ அதைப் போல இந்தியாவுக்கும்- பாகிஸ்தானுக்கும் போர் வந்துவிடக்கூடாது என்பதும் முக்கியம். பொருளாதார சீரழிவு வந்து கொண்டிருக்கும் நேரத்தில் இன்னொரு போரை உலகம் தாங்காது. பாகிஸ்தானில் தீவிரவாத முகாம்கள் ஒழிக்கப்படவேண்டும். போர் மூலம்தான் அது நிறைவேற்றப்பட வேண்டும் என்பதில் எனக்கு உடன்பாடில்லை என்றார் அவர்.
fukin dick head im goin to kill you yes very much so i a the ultimate tamil tiger i own sri lanka check it out… i am not messin roun here i am a real mother fuckin gangsta i own the streets you walk on fo sure brap brap brap
well said
my own counrty is in a position like this. God when are you going to help the poor Indian and srilankan people from the politicians. even if I do a small mistake you punish me atonce but why are you not punishing the 100 and 1000s of politicians in India and srilanka like karunanidhi jayalalitha etc who are taking the money from pool citizens and buying shipping houses lot of business under the world doing channel business how can sun be the satilite supplier for the whole tamilnadu
concenterations of child prostitutes.In some states children are openly sold.India is still known for child marriages, dowry deaths and isolated cases of ’sati’.
India has the world’s worst ever internal apartheid system known and is still flourishing.It is known as the hindu caste system which divides people into water tight compartments called castes and sub-castes.Members of one caste are not allowed to marry or socially interact.The Indian constitution sought to remove the oppressive caste system but with little success at the people level.
India is one of the most corrupt nations of the world.The democracy is manipulated by inducement ,threat and communal sanction. Almost 95% of the money meant for pro-poor schemes are eaten up by the world’s one of the most inefficient bureaucracy and the politicians. A vast number of Indian parliamentarians and legislators are known criminals and economic offenders.There have been some who have been accused in multiple murders,communal conflicts among other offences. The Indian police and securty personnel are known for their corruption and human rights abuses. While the vast majority of Indians live below the poverty line,not having enough to eat or drink, the hindu nationalist rulers have been encouraging militarism.The Kargil conflict inflicted billions of rupees loss on the Indian economy.A single shell fired at the pakis cost Rs 50,000/= whereas even a starving-thirsting villager employed in drought relief work in the baking sun gets only Rs 10-15 (the balance Rs 50 manipulated).He would be happy to survive on Rs25 for a day.The nuclear weaponisation only proved to be an ineffective weapon as even the adversary made one. The cold war with pakistan and the tit for tat increasing of the arsenal costs more and more on the poor citizens.The budgetary allocation for defence was higher than the whole budget of Pakistan. All this weaponisation is at the cost of the poor voiceless citizens.
By any yardstick, India continues to be a poor country. “More than 40% of our villages are without proper roads, 1.8 lakh villages do not have a primary school within one kilometre,4.5 lakh villages have drinking water problems, there is a shortage of 140 lakh rural dwelling units and the rural health infrastructure suffers from large deficiencies”, admits the Indian finance minister of India(the actual figures are higher).
As much as 73 per cent of the population has no proper sanitation, and 21 per cent lack access to drinking water. According to another estimate, “25% of global blind and visually handicapped population lives in India”. And the income distribution pattern between 1960s and 1990s has almost remained the same. India is a store house of dreaded diseases. India has the largest number of lepers in the world.It is one of the countries where AIDS is spreading very fast.India probably has the greatest number of TB patients.India is also the first in a many other diseases. India has the largest number of illiterates in the world. India has the largest female illiteracy in the world.Or in otherwords, the majority of world’s illiterates are in India.So are most of the world’s poorest poor in India.India has one of the biggest infant mortality rates. India is known for female infanticide.India has one of the largest
kavi thuravi mattum melinjathaan mathipu ella. kakki uniform pottavanum thoppai ellama fitta erukanam. first of all u reduce ur weight mr prabakaran and do some exercise and eat limitedly so that u can be an example for ur followers
its just abegining you will face it srilanka.you people are creating another 100s of group of ltte tamiol wount live you……………..
im sure tat sri lanka is going to face a major colaps, because tigers r not defeated.they r preparing for the next assult
so in the next assault .they will fear to see the tigers.. im always thinking & dreaming to enter to tamil elam nation….hats of to LTTE
all sl tamilans have to punish because they have jealous and torturing indian tamilans.sl tamilans are not worrying about their sl death and enjoying well in uk
As Mr. G. Cholan cited, this is not victory for SriLanka. Further, it not victory for Rajiv’s family also since there is nothing called Rajiv’s family. The main focus is on Power in India, Power in Cong.that’s all. for that simple reason even Pak is being allowed to do it’s atrocities.