The Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF) was a short-lived (1984-1986)
umbrella organisation
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
for leading
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception among minority Sri Lankan Tamils t ...
.
Formation
In April 1984
M. Karunanidhi invited the leaders of the five leading Tamil militant groups,
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front
The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group.
Militant separatists
The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, Su ...
(EPRLF),
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in ...
(EROS),
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
(LTTE),
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam
The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front.
Ori ...
(PLOTE) and
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. T ...
(TELO), for talks aimed at uniting the groups.
K. Pathmanabha
Kandasamy Pathmanabha ( ta, கந்தசாமி பத்மநாபா; 19 November 1951 – 19 June 1990) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and founder/leader of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), a separatist Tamil ...
(EPRLF),
V. Balakumaran (EROS) and
Sri Sabaratnam
Sundaram Sri Sabaratnam ( ta, சிறி சபாரத்தினம்; 28 August 1952 – 6 May 1986) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), a separatist Tamil militant organisation ...
(TELO) accepted the invitation but
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Velupillai Prabhakaran (; ta, வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; , (26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ...
(LTTE) and Uma Maheswaran (PLOTE) did not.
Shortly afterward EPRLF, EROS and TELO formed the Eelam National Liberation Front.
The inaugural meeting of the ENLF was held at the EPRLF's office in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
(now Chennai) and Ramesh of the EPRLF was elected the secretary. After the meeting Pathmanabha, Balakumaran and Sri Sabaratnam issued a statement announcing the formation of the ENLF:
Although the ENLF members would work together to achieve their common aim they would each maintain their own distinct identity. Other major liberation groups i.e. LTTE and PLOTE, were invited to join the ENLF. The objectives of the ENLF were:
* Winning the independence for our motherland from the domination of the
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
* Pledge to work for the full independence of Tamil Eelam and decision to accept nothing less.
* Adopt armed struggle as our path to freedom and endeavour to unite all sections of our people.
* Building a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
society in Tamil Eelam.
* Liberating our motherland from the shackles of
American imperialism
American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...
and
neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, gl ...
.
The ENLF members agreed to coordinate armed activities against the
Sri Lankan armed forces
The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Th ...
; unify propaganda conducted in foreign countries; and create a unified body to administer the funds collected from individuals and institutions.
LTTE joins ENLF
In early 1985 Prabhakaran changed his mind about the ENLF and decided to join. On 10 April 1985 senior members of the ENLF and LTTE met at the Hotel Presidency, Madras. Those attending the meeting were: LTTE – Prabhakaran, Rajanayagam and
Anton Balasingham
Anton Balasingham Stanislaus ( ta, ஆண்டன் பாலசிங்கம் சிடானிசுலாசு, translit=Āṇṭaṉ Pālaciṅkam Ciṭāṉisulās; 4 March 1938 – 14 December 2006) was a Sri Lankan Tamil journal ...
; EPRLF – Pathmanabha, Kulasegaran and Ramesh; EROS – Balakumaran and Muhilan; TELO – Sri Sabaratnam and Mathi. After the meeting a statement was issued:
The objectives of the ENLF were revised to:
* Winning the freedom and sovereignty of our motherland from the oppressive rule of Sri Lanka.
* Not to accept any solution lesser than the establishment of an independent state with the right to self-determination.
* Adopting mass armed struggle (People's Struggle) as the mode of struggle.
* Taking forward the socialist revolution along with the freedom struggle and building a socialist society in our motherland.
* Delivering our nation from the clutches of global imperialism and neocolonialism and leading it on the path of nonalignment.
The ENLF members agreed to make joint political decisions and to coordinate military actions against the Sri Lankan armed forces. The unity amongst the Tamil militant groups was widely welcomed by supporters of the Tamil independence movement.
LTTE lefts ENLF, dissolution
In February 1986, the LTTE pulled out of the ENLF. By April 1986, the ENLF had become defunct.
Eelam National Liberation Front
Tamilnation.org
References
{{Sri Lankan Tamil people
Factions in the Sri Lankan Civil War
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization
Tamil Eelam
Sri Lankan Civil War