The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
and a pro-government
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
organization in
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 ...
. It is led by its founder
Douglas Devananda.
Background
Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), one of the earliest
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups. In 1980 EROS split into two as
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 ...
(Padmanaba)
Varatharajah Perumal
Annamalai Varadaraja Perumal is a politician from Sri Lanka. He was the List of Chief Ministers of North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, 1st and only Chief Minister of North Eastern Province, Chief minister of the North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka ...
broke away and formed the
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). Devananda joined the EPRLF. By early 1986 disputes had arisen between Devananda and Pathmanabha, the EPRLF's political leader. The EPRLF leadership split into two factions: EPRLF (Ranjan) and EPRLF (Douglas). In 1987 the ''EPRLF (Douglas)'' faction formally split from the EPRLF. Devananda initially formed the
Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front
The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) is a former Indian backed Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1987 as an amalgamation of splinter groups from other militant groups (Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Fr ...
(ENDLF) with a breakaway faction of the
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 ...
led by Paranthan Rajan. The ENDLF collapsed when Rajan started working with Indians - Devananda was opposed to the
Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War. Devananda, now living 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 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, then formed the Eelam People's Democratic Party.
Kidnapping and extortion
The EPDP lacked funds and Devananda resorted to kidnapping and extortion of Sri Lankan Tamils living in Madras.
In 1989 Devananda and 25 others were arrested for the second time by the Indian police, this time for kidnapping a ten-year-old boy for ransom at Poonamallee High Road,
Kilpauk, Madras, and imprisoned.
He was given bail. In 1990 police in
Kodambakkam
Kodambakkam (also known as K-Town or Kollywood) is a business and residential neighbourhood in Central Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The neighbourhood is served by Kodambakkam railway station of the Chennai Suburban Railway Network. Kodambakkam h ...
, Madras, started an investigation on Devananda on charges of rioting and criminal intimidation of a person called Valavan.
In 1990 Devananda jumped bail and returned to Sri Lanka.
A secret US government cable written by Ambassador
Robert O. Blake Jr. states that "President Rajapaksa's government, strapped for cash, has cut direct payments to paramilitaries initiated by former President Kumaratunga and instead turns a blind eye to extortion and kidnapping for ransom by EPDP and Karuna."
Prostitution
Asecret US government cable written by Ambassador
Robert O. Blake Jr. states “The children are sold into slavery, usually boys to work camps and girls to prostitution rings, through EPDP’s networks in India and Malaysia. Sunthararaj maintains that children are often smuggled out of the country with the help of a corrupt Customs and Immigration official at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.”
Stephan Sunthararaj's allegations about child prostitution were verified by one Government Agent Ganesh.
Stephan Sunthararaj has since been kidnapped and has disappeared.
Paramilitary group
In 1990 Devananda arrived in Colombo. A meeting was arranged by Sri Lankan intelligence between Devananda and Deputy Defence Minister
Ranjan Wijeratne.
Devananda offered to place the EPDP under Sri Lankan government control in return for support and protection from the Tamil Tigers.
The government accepted - the EPDP had transformed itself into a paramilitary organisation. Devananda was attacked for betraying the Tamil people and collaborating with the enemy.
EPDP cadres from all over Sri Lanka and India converged on Colombo. The government gave the EPDP vast financial assistance.
The EPDP, with the support of the government, took control of the islands off
Jaffna peninsula after the Tigers withdrew.
The EPDP used the islands as a base to transport goods, particularly dried fish, between India and Sri Lanka.
It also imposed taxes.
Tamils living in Colombo were extorted for money.
On 1 January 1993 Tharmalingam Selvakumar, a former EPDP sympathiser, was abducted from the Premil Sports Club at Kotahena, Colombo. Selvakumar has alleged that he was taken in a van driven by Devananda to Devananda's house at 121 Park Road, Colombo 5. He was detained along with other prisoners in cells at the back of Devananda's house. Selvakumar was tortured and the EPDP tried to extort money from his family.
All of this resulted in Devananda making a fortune.
The EPDP's paramilitary wing continues to operate, despite its claims to have given up violence.
The paramilitary wing has been accused of helping the
Sri Lankan Navy
ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை
, image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png
, image_size = 180px
, caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy
, dates =
, c ...
commit massacres in places like
Allaipiddy.
Political party
![EPDP HQ, Valvettithurai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/EPDP_HQ%2C_Valvettithurai.jpg)
Devananda and the EPDP entered electoral politics when it contested the
1994 parliamentary election as an independent group in
Jaffna District. Most of the district was under Tamil Tiger control and so did not vote, allowing the EPDP win nine parliamentary seats with just 10,744 votes (0.14%), of which 9,944 votes came from the EPDP controlled Jaffna islands. The EPDP became an ally of President
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...
and her
People's Alliance (PA) government.
At the
2000 parliamentary election the EPDP won 50,890 votes (0.59%), securing four of the 225 seats in Parliament. In October 2000 Kumaratunga appointed Devananda as Minister of Development, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the North, and Tamil Affairs, North and East.
At the
2001 parliamentary election the EPDP won 72,783 votes (0.81%), securing two of the 225 seats in Parliament. Devananda lost his ministerial post following the change of government.
At the
2004 parliamentary election the EPDP won 24,955 votes (0.27%), securing one of the 225 seats in Parliament. Devananda was appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Marketing Development, Hindu Education Affairs, Tamil Language & Vocational Training Centres in North when the
United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக ...
, the successor to the PA, returned to power. He was appointed Minister for Social Service and Social Welfare by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...
in 2005.
There are unproved allegations of corruption against Devananda.
United People's Freedom Alliance
Since the end of the
Sri Lankan Civil War in May 2009 the EPDP has contested local and national elections under the UPFA banner rather than on its own. At the
2010 parliamentary election three EPDP members were elected on the UPFA ticket, all from Jaffna District.
References
External links
Official Eelam People's Democratic Party website{{Sri Lankan political parties
1987 establishments in Sri Lanka
Paramilitary organisations based in Sri Lanka
Political parties established in 1987
Political parties in Sri Lanka
Socialist parties in Sri Lanka
Tamil Eelam
Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka
United People's Freedom Alliance
Indian Peace Keeping Force