Revolution: Can the LTTE regroup some day in the future or is it totally annihilated?
LTTE’s revival is really tough.
Only positive factor is that the new generation know how to run the organization better. They already have a well established powerful financial network and international contacts in the arms black market.
But there were several other factors which helped the growth and success of Prabhakaran's LTTE(1976–2009) as the most disciplined militant force the world had ever seen.
Tamil Tigers were banned from taking alcohol, smoking, tobacco, sedatives. They were prohibited from pre- marital and extra-marital affairs.
Factors :
These things will never happen again atleast not at the same time.
1)1983 Riot: The Eelam issue was boiling as early as late 1960s and throughout 1970s. But it was the 1983 black July which inspired Tamil youths to join militant groups. LTTE gained a lot from it. Its cadre strength from two digits(20+) increased to 4 digits.
It gave Tamil civilians a strong reason to support armed struggle and back with Tamil militants especially Prabhakaran.
Prabhakaran (c) with the first set of LTTE cadres. Before Black July it's strength was just 30 with 23 permanent and 7 part-time members.
2)Public support: LTTE enjoyed great support among the civilians. Especially the expatriate Tamils donated lavishly to LTTE.
Hundreds of civilians gathered to pay last respect to the 21 black tigers who fell at the Anuradhapuram Air base raid in 2007.
3)Support of Tamil Nadu (both official and unofficial): Without Tamil Nadu's help LTTE and other Tamil militant groups would have never survived their early years. Tamil Nadu was a hiding place for wanted militants. During Eelam War 1 several injured Tamil Tigers were transported to Tamil Nadu for better treatment. Tamil Nadu helped LTTE transport weapons to Sri Lanka.
Vedaranyam base: LTTE had leased a 15 acre of Coconut farm from a fisherman in the Vedaranyam region. It was used as their base. From the base LTTE used to communicate with their headquarter in Jaffna and other LTTE bases. They treated their wounded cadres by paying huge fees to the doctors here. They also intercepted Police communication lines to track police movements around the area. Through this base heavily armed LTTE cadres would enter Tamil Nadu at their will. Police complaints and criminal cases against Tamil militant groups were never pursued in Tamil Nadu.
Image: LTTE cadres guarding the shore while other cadres leaves for Tamil Nadu in a boat.
4)India (official):
LTTE’s training in India helped them gain knowledge of high-tech and advanced weapons. It increased their morale and confidence. LTTE would have never able to train their large number of cadres in such a short time.
Prabhakaran with Lt.col.Ponnamman at one of the LTTE training camps in India.
5)Over-confident Sri Lankan Armed Forces:
Throughout the civil war several times Sri Lankan Army was caught napping as they were never prepared to counter any surprise attacks by small number of LTTE groups. LTTE often used this over-confidence of Army in their favour especially during Eelam War 3 LTTE caught Sri Lankan Army off-guard in several of their missions and easily ran-over important army and naval bases.
6)Weak rival groups:
After the arrest and eventual murder of TELO's Kuttimani and Thangadurai in 1983 Prabhakaran became the most charismatic leader among all militant groups. His proactive thinking and huge stock of weapons helped LTTE crush other Tamil militant groups.
Along with these factors there were several LTTE leaders who were irreplaceable.
LTTE’s Great leaders:
Technical contributions
Col.Shankar(2001) and Col.Raju(2002) deaths were huge set back for LTTE. They had lost their technical brains. During early ceasefires LTTE used to increase their weapon stocks and technical capabilities. But after the death of these two leaders LTTE failed to do the same during 2002 ceasefire and it led to the military defeat of LTTE.
Col.Shankar, senior commander(died in 2001):
Col.Shankar was Prabhakaran’s relative. He remained Prabhakaran's close confidante from the beginning of Eelam armed struggle and founding of LTTE.
He founded LTTE’s important units:
- Sea Tigers (Navy)
- Air-Tigers (Air-Force)
- Anti-Aircraft Unit
- Frogmen (Sea Tigers)
Col.Raju, chief engineer(died in 2002)
As a young boy Col.Raju wanted to be an engineer but 1983 Black July inspired him to join LTTE. There he became the chief engineer and innovated several effective weapons and devices for LTTE.
Eg.
- Johnny 95: Land mine widely used by LTTE against Indian soldiers during late 1980s.
- Johnny 99: It was the plastic version of Johnny 95 which used economically cheap wooden boxes.
- Paseelan 2000: Home made rockets . This was one of the best innovations of LTTE. During the Eelam War 2 in early 1990s paseelan rockets inflicted heavy damages on the Army.
- Suicide boats: When Prabhakaran decided to launch LTTE’s first suicide attack on sea it was Raju who took the responsibility. He designed the suicide boats which fetch several victories to LTTE on sea. Out of LTTE’s 350+ suicide attacks most of them were carried on sea.
- Artillery unit: When LTTE captured artillery guns from army in 1990s they didn't have any idea of using it. Later LTTE bought several manuals and it was Col.Raju who took the responsibility of teaching the art of artillery warfare to LTTE cadres. Artillery unit of LTTE played a vital role in the highly successful LTTE campaigns during Eelam War 3 (1996 to 2002). Raju was the man who taught the effective deployment and use of artillery pieces to LTTE.
Image: Paseelan launcher fixed to a tractor which played a vital role in LTTE operations during 1990s.
Image: LTTE's sea Black tigers (Suicide bombers) on explosive boat.
Image: Col.Raju with Prabhakaran.
Brig.Balraj, deputy chief (died in 2008)
Balraj was the second best military commander after Prabhakaran. He was the main reason for the success of LTTE in conventional warfare.
His successful ambush against IPKF patrol team forced Indian soldiers to abandon forest search operations completely. Again in 2000 he fetched LTTE their biggest success at the Second Battle of Elephant Pass.
Col.Bottu Amman, intelligence chief, (died in final battle 2009):
Bottu Amman was the main man behind LTTE’s highly successful intelligence wing. He was involved in most of the black tigers attacks and military operations.
Col.Soosai, sea Tigers chief, (died in final battle 2009):
He made Sea Tigers the best non-state navy. As LTTE didn't have any port in its control they used to hide their sea tigers boat deep inside(few km) the residential areas. They used trailers and tractors to launch their boats which gave them mobility. As they used to hide their boats all over the shore they were able to launch sea attack from anywhere and anytime.
After the end of civil war in an interview Soosai’s wife said that he always wanted to die fighting for LTTE.
Sea tiger boat on a trailer which helped to launch sea attack in a short time.
Image: Soosai(extreme right) with top LTTE leaders.
Along with these leaders there were several other leaders and cadres who were very loyal to Prabhakaran and highly committed to Eelam struggle.
Main Factor:
The above factors or leaders can be replaced by new bloods but LTTE will be nothing without this man:
While India was able to manipulate Sri Lankan Government and other Tamil militant groups he never give away too much:
1)He predicted war with India in 1984 itself: During his first ever interview in 1984 he said once India achieves its agenda in Sri Lanka they will dump LTTE and all other Tamil militant groups.
2)He outsmarted India : While training in India he decided to make full use of India’s support. While other Tamil militant groups were highly satisfied with India's help he had other plans. He used that golden chance to smuggle advanced weapons from other countries through India. Even Indian Government (RAW) was not aware of that. He did this with the help of Tamil Nadu politicians.
- LTTE used those advanced weapons against their rival groups and defeated them all brutally.
- Those weapons helped LTTE survive the rampage of the World's third largest army.
3)Instructions to LTTE cadres: Strict orders were given to LTTE fighters who were training in India.
- They must use their nom de Guerre for registering in India and never disclose their real names to RAW agents.
- A LTTE cadre should never try to know the real name of his/her comrades.
- A LTTE cadre must not try to dig information about other cadre's family and hometown.
This protected the identity of LTTE cadres and protected their families when India and other militant groups launched counter attacks on LTTE.
4)Refused to become Chief Minister: During the Thimpu peace talks 1984 he refused to accept GOSL's offer to become Chief Minister of North and East province. He said in Sri Lanka Chief Ministers have limited powers and can be removed by President anytime. By becoming a chief minister he won’t get extra power to serve Eelam people and always remain under the control of the Colombo.
5)Maveerar Naal: Several times Sri Lankan army refused to accept dead bodies of their fallen soldiers especially Eelam War 3. Prabhakaran proved that he was better than his southern counterparts and started observing heroes day in 1989. This inspired young guys to join and die for the Tamil eelam cause.
Image: Prabhakaran in front of lamp of sacrifice during a heroes day.
6)He always preferred action scene : Most of the chiefs of other militant groups stays away from battlefield.They lived at a safe place or foreign country and control their military from there. But Prabhakaran always preferred to remain in the action scene. Even as a teenage boy he didn't like hiding in India and always preferred to return to his motherland/action scene as soon as possible.
During the last days of civil war when senior LTTE commanders asked him to leave Sri Lanka to keep the Eelam struggle alive but he refused to leave Sri Lanka.
Without a disciplined and strict leader like Prabhakaran the new LTTE (if formed) may not survive long.
LTTE version 2.0:
Few attempts were already made to review LTTE but those attempts were suppressed by the alert Sri Lankan army and Policemen. Few top LTTE leaders who escaped during 2009 were also arrested.
After the death of Prabhakaran the remaining LTTE leaders outside Sri Lanka formed two different gangs. One is loyal to KP (the last LTTE chief ) and another group is loyal to Nediyavan(LTTE’s Norway leader).
Currently Nediyavan is the de-facto chief of LTTE. After the arrest of LTTE chief KP in 2009 there is no one left to challenge Nediyavan. In 2016 EU has said that it will remove LTTE from blacklist. If this happens it will be interesting to see how Nediyavan lead the Eelam struggle and LTTE.
The LTTE group loyal to KP says Nediyavan is interested only in LTTE’s funds and assets which is worth million dollars. So its not clear who will revive LTTE.
Image:Nediyavan
End of Cold war ended separists movements:
I think 2009 should be the end of Eelam Armed struggle. After the end of Cold War no country supports separist movements. This was the single main reason for the isolation and fall of LTTE. Unless in future the World divides into two again like Cold War era no country will support any separists movement.
So we should respect the fallen heroes, their sacrifices and look for a peaceful solution.
The following tribute song is a best way to pay homage to the fallen LTTE leaders and cadres. Titled: Heroes appeal.
