Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of
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 ...
in order to create an independent
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora as ...
in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception among minority
Sri Lankan Tamils
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pro ...
that the state was preferring the majority
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
for educational opportunities and government jobs. By the end of 1987, the militants had fought not only the
Sri Lankan security forces but also the
Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...
. They also fought among each other briefly, with the main
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) rebel group dominating the others. The militants represented
inter-generational tensions, as well as the
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
and ideological differences. Except for the LTTE, many of the remaining organizations have morphed into minor political parties within the
Tamil National Alliance
The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lankan ...
, or as standalone political parties. Some Tamil militant groups also functioned as paramilitaries within the Sri Lankan military against separatist militants .
Origins
The relationship between the
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
and Tamils were not always antagonistic but after 1948 when Sri Lanka became independent, successive governments have adopted policies that had the effect of net preference to the majority
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
at the expense of the minority
Sri Lankan Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...
s such as the
Sinhala Only Act
The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion ...
. The governments adopted these policies in order to assist the Sinhalese community in such areas as education and public employment . But these policies severely curtailed the middle class Tamil youth, who found it more difficult during the 1970s and 1980s to enter a university or secure employment. These individuals belonging to this younger generation, often referred to by other Tamils as "the boys" (''Podiyal'' in
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...
) formed many militant organizations.
[Ross, ''Sri Lanka: A Country Study'', p.#] And when the government launched plans to settle poor farmers in the sparsely populated areas of the dry zone in the North Central Province and the Eastern Provinces alongside irrigation projects the Sinhalese nationalist groups viewed it as a "reclamation and recreation in the present of the glorious Sinhalese Buddhist past" resulting in many Tamils viewing it as a deliberate attempt of the Sinhalese-dominated state to marginalize them further by decreasing their numbers in the area.
Social conditions
The militant groups also represented not only a revolt against the Sinhalese-dominated status quo but also an expression of inter-generational tensions in a highly traditional society where obedience to parental authority was expected. Militant youth criticized their elders for indecisiveness at a time when they felt the existence of their ethnic community clearly was in danger.
[
The most important contributor to the strength of the militant groups was the ]Black July
Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...
pogrom which was perceived as an organized event in which over 3000 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were slaughtered by Sinhalese mobs, prompting many youth to prefer the armed path of resistance.[
The movement also reflected caste differences and rivalries. The membership of the largest and most important rebel group, for example, the ]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), was generally drawn from the Karaiyar
Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora.
They are traditionally a seafaring community that is engaged in fishing, shipment and seaborne t ...
or fisherman caste, while individuals belonging to the Vellala or farmer caste were found in considerable numbers in a rival group, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).[
]
Role in the conflict
By the end of 1987, they had fought not only the Sri Lankan security forces but also the Indian Peace Keeping Force
Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...
and were allegedly involved in acts that were characterized as terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
against civilians. They also fought among each other briefly, with main 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) rebel group dominating the others.[ Most of the Tamil militant groups were eliminated by the LTTE.
]
Groups
;Student organizations
Most started as student organizations. The notable one were Tamil Students League (TSL) or ''Tamil Manavar Peravai'' founded in 1970 by Ponnuthurai Satyaseelan. Another one was Tamil Youth League or ''Tamil Ilaignar Peravai'' founded in 1973 that was progenitor of many militant groups. Finally General Union of Eelam Students (GUES) founded in London, UK whose members founded 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 ...
which in turn split into 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 ...
that gave birth to current political party and sometime paramilitary organization Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Background
Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam Re ...
.
;Major groups
Prior to 1987 the major groups included the Indian trained and equipped 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. ...
, eventually militarily beaten by the LTTE, but politically part of pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance
The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lankan ...
party, as well as a former rival and splinter group from LTTE, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, currently a minor standalone political party with many of its cadres working as paramilitaries,[Rotberg, ''Creating Peace in Sri Lanka'', p.61] although the PLOTE leadership denies this. Among the many leftists groups the major one was the pro-Indian and Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
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 ...
, militarily defeated by the LTTE but a faction of which is part of the TNA and others working with the Sri Lankan government as paramilitaries. The Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Background
Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam Re ...
is a pro-government group and a political party accused of being a paramilitary. A faction of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers (EROS) is part of LTTE. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTe) is the only remaining armed Tamil nationalist
Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...
group.
;Other groups
There were over 30 other minor groups of which some are notable such as National Liberation Front of Tamil Eelam (NLFTE), which according to Taraki Sivaram
Taraki Sivaram or Dharmeratnam Sivaram (11 August 1959 – 28 April 2005) was a popular Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka. He was kidnapped by four men in a white van on 28 April 2005, in front of the Bambalapitya police station. His body was fou ...
, was a small but influential Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
group based largely in Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...
, which People's Liberation Army (PLA) in reality the military wing of EPRLF, Led by EPDP founder and leader Douglas Devananda
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda ( ta, டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா), is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri ...
. Important achievement of the PLA was the 1984 kidnapping of American couple Stanley and Mary Allen from Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, in Jaffna.Another minor but notable group was Tamil Eelam Army The Tamil Eelam Army is a defunct Tamil separatist group in Sri Lanka. It was founded by Panagoda Maheswaran. It was implicated in a bomb attack against a Sri Lankan airliner at Madras airport in India. It was disbanded after that incident.
See a ...
(TEA) of Panagoda Maheswaran
Panagoda Maheswaran (born 1955 as Thambapillai Maheswaran) is a Sri Lankan Tamil militant who founded and led the Tamil Eelam Army. He studied chemical engineering from the University of London and was an expert in explosives. His name ''Panagoda' ...
involved in the attack against an Air Lanka
SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched i ...
flight 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. Tamil Eelam Liberation Army (TELA) founded in 1982 by Oberoi Thevan; a splinter group of TELO. After the assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
of Thevan in 1983 by the LTTE, TELA was absorbed by PLOTE.
;Militant fronts
There are also number of militia groups such as Upsurging People's Force
The Upsurging People's Force ( ta, பொங்கி எழும் மக்கள் படை) is a militant group in Sri Lanka.
The group was unknown until February 2006, when it claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Sri Lanka A ...
, Ellalan Padai, and Ravanan Padai considered by some to be groups allied to the LTTE.
Tamil paramilitary groups
Due to the internecine conflicts as well as due to internal conflicts within militant organizations many members of Tamil militant groups cooperated with the Sri Lankan government and have worked as paramilitary groups. They played an important role in military operations against the LTTE as well as in counter insurgency operations.[ ]Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) ( ta, தமிழ் மக்கள் விடுதலைப்புலிகள், en, Tamil Peoples Liberation Tigers), previously known as the "Karuna Group", is a political party in Sri Lanka. It ...
a splinter group from the LTTE worked with the government. Its former leader Karuna Amman
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (''nom de guerre'': Colonel Karuna Amman; ta, விநாயகமூர்த்தி முரளிதரன், ''Vināyakamūrtti Muraḷitaraņ'', born 22 June 1966) is a Sri Lankan politician and former ...
was incarcerated in London, UK. The current leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan was elected chief minister of the east in the eastern province elections held in 2008 by the government after the liberation of the east from the LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
.
In 1990 the Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Background
Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam Re ...
another major Tamil group joined as a paramilitary group and the Sri Lankan government agreed to fund the group.
According to the Sri Lankan nationalist ''Asian Tribune
The ''Asian Tribune'' is an online newspaper. Their funding is unknown, and critics, such as the Sri Lanka Guardian, consider their journalism to be of poor quality. The publication is owned by K.T. Rajasingham, who is also a writer for the publ ...
'' website, by 2009 end of the war the Paramilitaries were disarmed and most of them entered politics. However, civilians giving evidence to the (LLRC) claimed that the paramilitary groups were still engaged in violence, including abductions and murder. The LLRC found that the government had failed to disarm the paramilitary groups which were still recruiting children. One of the main recommendations of the LLRC was that the government disarm the paramilitary groups. In 2011 the US government has also called on the government to stop paramilitary activity in the north of the country.
See also
* List of Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Following is a list of Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups.
Student organizations
*TSL – Tamil Students League amil Manavar Peravai(1970), founded by Ponnuthurai Satyaseelan. See also, TYL.
*TYL – Tamil Youth League amil Ilaignar Peravai(1973), ...
Notes
References
*
External links
List of Tamil militant groups
{{Sri Lankan Civil War
Factions in the Sri Lankan Civil War, *
Tamil militant group
Militant group
The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the entrist Marxist Group in the ILP, as a separate entrist group inside the Labour Party.
Initially known as the Bolshevik-Leni ...
Militant group
The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the entrist Marxist Group in the ILP, as a separate entrist group inside the Labour Party.
Initially known as the Bolshevik-Leni ...
Militant group
The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the entrist Marxist Group in the ILP, as a separate entrist group inside the Labour Party.
Initially known as the Bolshevik-Leni ...
Tamil militant group
Indian Peace Keeping Force