Tamil Eelam

Tamil Eelam (in Tamil: தமிழ் ஈழம், Tamiḻ īḻam) is the name assigned by Tamil nationalists to the Tamil state to be established in the north and east of the island of Sri Lanka. This state wanted to secede from Sri Lanka and form a Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. For this, they started a civil war that lasted 26 years, with attacks and combats between the government and the main guerrilla group that was seeking its independence: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In fact, the areas they controlled were de facto an independent state.

Until May 2009, when they were defeated by government forces, Tamil guerrillas controlled much of these territories and had organized themselves as a de facto state, with its own Constitutional Court, police, army, navy, Air Force, Intelligence Service and even its own central bank, although none of these institutions had been recognized by the Sinhalese government. In addition, they were dependent on electricity and raw materials from the government-supported area around the A9 motorway. They also did not have their own currency (they used the Sri Lankan rupee). Tamil nationalists frequently accused the government of seizing essential assets from civilians, oppressing the population. It does not have its own airport, so foreign tourists must travel there through Colombo airport.

Political history

In the 1970s, Northern Tamils were represented by the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi or Ceylon Federal Party, a moderate party that advocated a federal state for the island of Ceylon.

In the elections of March 1960 the National Union Party (UNP) which was already in government since independence until 1956, won the majority but the People's United Front party (whose main component was the Sri Lanka freedom Party-SLFP, in Spanish: Sri Lanka Freedom Party) joined the Federal Party to gain power. In the following elections the SLFP won again with a small minority, but in 1965 the UNP regained power (also by a narrow margin) and Tiruchelvam, leader of the federal party, was appointed minister of local government (1965-68). The Federal Party thus acted as a hinge party. In 1970 Mrs. Bandaranaike triumphed by a two-thirds majority and no longer needed the feds who evolved towards more separatist positions. In 1970 P. Sathyaseelan founded the Tamil Manavar Peravai (Tamil Students Movement) which openly advocated for independence. In 1972 the Federal Party joined the Tamil Congress (Tamil Congress) and other smaller groups and was renamed the Tamil United Front, formally adopting pro-independence positions. This party adopted the red flag with a yellow sun which for many years was intended to be the national flag of the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

On May 22, 1972, the Tamil New Tigers (T.N.T., New Tamil Tigers) was founded, led by Vellapilai Pirabhakaran, which became the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on May 5 of 1976. In 1975, the Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students or Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS) was founded in London, led by Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy, who began his armed activity in the east of the country collaborating with Sinhalese Muslims. Since 1976 they spread to the North where they collaborated with the Tigers that were active in the area and that only carried out sporadic actions. The TUF flag was still in use at this time, but a new flag was later designed for the Tigers. The emblem was drawn by Nadarajan, a friend of Pirabhakaran's, in 1977.

On 14 May 1976 the United Front passed the following resolution (known as the Vaddukkodai resolution): "...the restoration and reconstruction of a Tamil state free, secular and socialist based on the right of self-determination inherent to each nation becomes inevitable in order to safeguard the existence of the Tamil nation in this country". The Tamil United Front (Tamil United Front) became the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF, Tamil United Liberation Front), an organization that was declared illegal in 1984, fleeing their leadership to Madras, including Secretary General Amir Thalingam. In 1977, the UNP returned to power in Sri Lanka, a power that it would maintain for 17 years.

In 1979 the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) was founded. Their leaders were Thangadorai, Kuttimani and Sellathurai Sivasubramaniam alias Thevan. His commandos were able to train in India. Its leaders were arrested in 1981 and Sri Sabaratnam took over. The imprisoned chiefs were assassinated in jail in 1983. The organization failed to reorganize and was absorbed by the Tigers around 1986, when its leader, Sri Sabaratam, was assassinated by an LTTE commando.

In 1980 EROS suffered a split that gave rise to the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF, Eelam Revolutionary Front for Popular Liberation) with a strong Marxist tendency, led by K. Padmanabha, whose movement began its armed activity in 1982. In 1988 it formed a provisional government of the Northeastern provinces led by Vardharaja Perumal. At the beginning of 1990, before the departure of the Indian troops, Padmanabha proclaimed the independence of Tamil Eelam. But a strong offensive by the Sinhalese army soon after forced the EPRLF leaders to leave the country for India together with the troops of this country. Padmanabha was killed by the Tigers in June 1990.

In 1980 another group was born, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE, Organization for the Liberation of the People of Tamil Eelam ) led by Karthiragamar Uma Maheswaran alias Mukundan who was previously president of the Tigers (1977-80) and left due to disagreements with his leader. After a strong confrontation (by shooting) with the leader of the Tigers (in India) the party began to lose strength due to the criminalization of its activities and despotic methods. Uma Maheswaran was assassinated in July 1989, apparently by members of his own organization, which has virtually disappeared.

In 1984 the Tamil Eelam Army (TEA, Tamil Eelam Army) carried out some operations, made up of few militants but very active who carried out terrorist actions under the leadership of Maheswaran alias Panegoda. After a mistaken bomb explosion at Madras airport that killed 30, they lost support and their active militants fled to India in 1985. Around the same time, the Tamil Eelam National Army (TENA) emerged. Eelam) directed by Bagirathan Ravi, son of TULF leader Amirthalingam. In 1985 it divided into two factions, one led by Rajan and the other by Kanthan and at the end of the same year, after several internal clashes, its structure was dismantled by the police.

In November 1985 four groups united in a common front called the Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF): Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Eelam People Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Tamil (ERO). this union did not subsist.

On March 31, 1990, the Tigers created a political party called the Tigers Peoples Liberation Front (in Spanish: Popular Front for the Liberation of the Tigers), to negotiate with the Sinhalese government after the Indian withdrawal and take part in eventual elections.

The Indian peacekeeping troops expelled the guerrillas from the cities they controlled (1989), having to take refuge in the jungles. But the Indian forces, considered favorable to the Tamils, had to withdraw at the request of the Colombo government in March 1990. After the departure of the Indians, the guerrillas returned to the cities. Sinhalese President Premadasa was assassinated by a Tamil on May 1, 1993 and after a provisional period elections were held in 1994 which gave victory to the People's Alliance (successor to the SLFP). After a period of negotiation, the Sinhalese army resumed the offensive and took Jafna establishing strong military positions, but a general offensive by the Tigers in 2000, with the capture of the Elephant Pass in a military operation considered a model of strategy and efficiency, It led them once again to reconquer the entire North of the country and position themselves at the gates of Jaffna. The LTTE organized a complete administration in the territories under its control, with an army with naval and air units. Although the Sinhalese government, seeking international support, accuses it of terrorism (for which the secret services commit some acts that they later attribute to the Tigers, to whom the terrorist acts of other groups are also accused), it is a purely political organization. and military, where all the militant combatants do so in uniform and in conventional battles. On the second national heroes day (27.11.1990), the flag of the Tigers was adopted as the national flag of Tamil Eelam (which until then was the flag of the TULF). Since 1972 the LTTE leader had chosen the tiger as a symbol because of its links with the Dravidian civilizations and that it was representative of Tamil heroism and pride, and comparable in combat to Tamil soldiers. The red color represents progress and social changes. Red and yellow are the national colors chosen for Tamil Eelam.

On May 18, 2009, the Tamil Eelam independence movement laid down its arms after 19 years of intermittent warfare between them and the central government of Sri Lanka.