Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization

Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization

The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization or TELO is a Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a conflict with the LTTE. Its surviving members reorganised themselves as a political party, and it continues to function as such today.

The TELO currently has three members of Parliament. It is part of the Tamil National Alliance ("Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi"), an LTTE-backed coalition of Tamil parties which won 6.9% of the popular vote and 22 out of 225 seats at the 2004 legislative election in Sri Lanka.

Early history

The TELO evolved out of the group of Tamil student radicals formed by Nadarajah Thangathurai and Selvarajah Yogachandran (better known by his nom de guerre "Kuttimani") in the late 1960s. The group formally constituted itself into an organisation in 1979, inspired in part by the LTTE and the EROS. Soon, it had become the most effective of the Tamil militant groups except the LTTE.

Its success did not last long, however. Both Thangathurai and Kuttimani were captured by the Sri Lankan army in 1981 while they were in the process of escaping to India. For a while after their arrest, the TELO was led by Sri Sabaratnam as the de facto leader. Prabhakaran had left the LTTE in 1980 after an internal struggle, and joined the TELO, whose leaders he had been acquainted with from childhood. Prabhakaran continued in TELO until 1982, when he returned to the LTTE as its leader.

India and the Eelam National Liberation Front

The TELO was thereafter relatively dormant until 1983. On 25 July 1983, both Thangathurai and Kuttimani were brutally tortured and killed in prison by Sinhalese prisoners. Sri Sabaratnam then became its head. The trained cadre would be supplied with weaponry, and sent to Sri Lanka to wage a guerrilla war against the army.

In February 1984, the TELO together with the EROS and the EPRLF set up a common militant front for the Eelam struggle, which was called the Eelam National Liberation Front, or ENLF. The LTTE joined the ENLF in April that year. In co-ordination, the groups began carrying out attacks against government positions in Jaffna. The TELO used its arms to destroy the main police station in Jaffna, and attack military convoys. The combined assaults led to the near-total disappearance of government authority in Jaffna.

Internal dissension and the conflict with the LTTE

As a leader, however, Sri Sabaratnam lacked the charisma which the likes of Prabhakaran had, and he was unable to convey the sense of vision to the TELO which the LTTE had. As a result, the TELO's rapid growth was not backed up by a strong ideology like the LTTE's had been, and a number of its cadre were seen as bullies. Sri Sabaratnam, relying heavily on his association with and support by India, had not acquired the sort of advanced modern weaponry that the LTTE had, and the group therefore began losing its effectiveness. A number of TELO members became unhappy with Sri Sabaratnam's leadership, and dissension grew in the ranks. By 1985, a number of factions had emerged in the TELO. The rivalry between the factions led to the murder of Dass, one of the factional leaders, in April 1986. This led to a split in the organisation, with several dozen members leaving.

In the meantime, differences with the LTTE were also growing. The LTTE was unhappy with the pro-India stance of the TELO. They also were upset that the TELO was getting by far the largest share of contributions from Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates, even though the TELO was not as active or successful as the LTTE. Prabhakaran also feared that India would use the TELO to have him killed.

Matters came to a head with the assassination of two prominent Tamil politicians in Jaffna, M. Alalasundaram and V. Dharmalingam, in September 1985. The TELO and the LTTE blamed each other for the killings. In February 1986, the LTTE pulled out of the ENLF. On 29 April that year, they launched an all-out assault on the TELO. TELO bases across Jaffna were shelled with mortars. TELO cadres, whether armed or unarmed, came under rifle attack and were shot dead. No quarter was given, according to eyewitnesses. Those who surrendered were shot dead as they laid down their weapons, and those who attempted to flee were shot as they ran. Civilians were warned not to shelter fugitives. The few TELO cadres who managed to find refuge with other armed groups such as the EPLRF or the EROS were nearly the only ones who survived. On 5 May, the TELO's leader Sri Sabaratnam was shot dead by Sathasivam Krishnakumar of the LTTE, better known as "Kittu". In all, over four hundred men had been killed, and the TELO had been virtually wiped out.

The LTTE at the time justified its actions as necessary, arguing that the TELO was being used by India to infiltrate the Eelam struggle and reshape it to its own ends. Several years later, however, in 1990, Kittu, who had directed and led the massacres, admitted that it had been a mistake to kill the cadres of the TELO, although the assassination of the top leaders was justified.

Some attempts were made during the IPKF period to revive the TELO as a militant group, and to avenge those killed by the LTTE. They were assisted by the Indian army, which armed them and used them to try and contain the LTTE, who opposed the IPKF presence. However, they came under constant LTTE attack and suffered heavy casualties, losing as many as 70 in a single attack in September 1987. Once the IPKF withdrew, the military strength of these groups melted away, with most of their members surrendering to the LTTE in fear of reprisals. Since then, the TELO has never revived as an effective militant group.

The TELO as a political party

After the killing of Sri Sabaratnam, Selvam Adaikkalanathan became the leader of the TELO. Following the melting away of its cadre after the IPKF's withdrawal, he decided that the TELO would never recover and therefore eventually reconstituted it as a political party. The TELO maintained an ambivalent position with relation to the LTTE for some years, but starting from the mid-1990s, it began to take an increasingly pro-LTTE stand. In 2004, it joined the Tamil National Alliance, a coalition of pro-independence Tamil parties, which supported, and was supported by, the LTTE. In an interview, Adaikkalanathan explained the contradiction behind the TELO supporting a group to which it was once opposed. While the TELO does not accept internecine killing and can never forget what the LTTE has done, he says it would be betraying the Tamil people to oppose the LTTE, because victory could only be achieved if all Tamil groups set aside their differences and present a united front. [http://www.flonnet.com/fl2121/stories/20041022000905200.htm]

References

* Hellmann-Rajanayagam, D. (1994) "The Goups and the rise of Militant Secessions". in Manogaram, C. and Pfaffenberger, B. (editors). The Sri Lankan Tamils. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-8133-8845-7
* Narayan Swamy, M. R. (2002) Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas, Konark Publishers; 3rd ed. ISBN 81-220-0631-0

External links

* [http://www.telo.org/index.htm The TELO's website]
* [http://www.tamilnation.org/tamileelam/thangathurai/sabaratnam.htm Sri Sabaratnam Memorial Lecture 1987, by Nadesan Satyendra]
* [http://www.tamilnation.org/saty/9907sabaratnam.htm Sri Sabaratnam revisited 1999 by Nadesan Satyendra]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — The official emblem of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as designed by Rishi Suresh. Dates of operation May 5, 1976 – present Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran Motives The cr …   Wikipedia

  • Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — Flagge der LTTE Die Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (kurz: LTTE, auch Tamil Tigers; Tamil தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், deutsch Befreiungstiger von Tamil Eelam) sind eine paramilitärische Organisation, die von 1983 bis 2009 im Bürgerkrieg in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam — Tamil name தமிழீழ மக்கள் விடுதலைக் கழகம் Leader Dharmalingam Sidarthan Founder Uma Maheswaran Founded 1980 …   Wikipedia

  • Tamil Eelam — contains Indic text Infobox Country native name = தமிழ் ஈழம் tamiḻ īḻam conventional long name = Tamil Eelam common name = Tamil Eelam national anthem = official languages = Tamil, English ethnic groups = Tamil Sinhalese ethnic groups year =… …   Wikipedia

  • Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — or Tamil Tigers Guerrilla organization seeking to establish an independent Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Formed in 1972, it is considered one of the world s most sophisticated and tightly organized insurgent groups. By 1985 it… …   Universalium

  • Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students — The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students, also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, was a Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. OriginsThe EROS was formed in London in 1975 by Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy and Nesadurai Thirunesan (also …   Wikipedia

  • Tamil Tiger — Die Neutralität dieses Artikels oder Abschnitts ist umstritten. Eine Begründung steht auf der Diskussionsseite. Dieser Artikel oder Abschn …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Tamil Tigers — Die Neutralität dieses Artikels oder Abschnitts ist umstritten. Eine Begründung steht auf der Diskussionsseite. Dieser Artikel oder Abschn …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Tamil National Alliance — The Tamil National Alliance or Tamil Government Party ( Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi or இலங்கைத் தமிழரசுக் கட்சி in Tamil) is a minority Sri Lankan Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. OriginsIt was formed in 2001, just before the 2001 elections,… …   Wikipedia

  • Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — noun a terrorist organization in Sri Lanka that began in 1970 as a student protest over the limited university access for Tamil students; currently seeks to establish an independent Tamil state called Eelam; relies on guerilla strategy including… …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”