1505 - 1998, Eelam Groups,Rape & murder,Tamil Eelam Martyrs
Eelam War,Early militancy,Eelam History, Tamils In The World
Scientists,Hinduism R Here...
1505
Portuguese arrive in Ceylon during the existence of three sovereign kingdoms,
one Tamil based in Jaffna, and two Sinhalese based in Kotte and Kandy.
1619
Tamil sovereignity ends when Portuguese defeats the Tamil king and annex the
Jaffna kingdom.
1656
Dutch arrive in Ceylon.
1796
British arrive in Ceylon
1802
Ceylon becomes a British Crown Colony.
1815
Fall of Kandyan kingdom, the last holdout against colonial occupation.
1833
For the first time in over 2,500 years of its recorded history, the entire
island of Ceylon is brought under a single administration based on the
recommendations of Colebrook-Cameron Report.
1919
Ceylon National Congress (CNC), the first full-fledged "nationalist" political
party is formed by Ponnambalam Arunachalam.
1921
Arunachalam quits CNC, denouncing it as a party representing mainly a section of
the Sinhalese.
1935
Formation of Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP).
1943
Formation of Communist Party of Ceylon (CP).
1947
United National Party (UNP) is formed.
1948
The British leave and Ceylon becomes a self-governing domination with a
government dominated by the Sinhalese elite assuming power.
Passage of the Citizenship Act that makes more than a million Tamil plantation
workers of Indian origin disenfranchised and stateless.
1949
Formation of the Tamil Federal Party under the leadership of SJV Chelvanayagam.
1951
First convention of the Federal Party, declaring its intention to campaign for a
federal structure of governance, and for regional autonomy for Tamils living in
North and East.
SWRD Bandaranaike breaks away from UNP and forms Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).
1956
UNP ousted from power in the general elections by SLFP, riding on the wave of
Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism with strong anti-Tamil overtones.
Sinhalese is proclaimed as the sole official language of Ceylon.
Colvin R.de Silva speaks out against "Sinhala Only", warning it will divide the
country along ethnic lines.
FP establishes itself as the major representative party of Ceylon Tamils.
The outbreak of first post-colonial anti-Tamil riots.
1958
Prime Minister Bandaranaike and FP leader Chelvanayagam sign a historic
agreement (the B-C Pact) on a federal solution, developing wide-ranging powers
to the Tamil-majority North and East provinces.
Barely a week later, the pact is unilaterally abrogated by Bandaranaike under
pressure from UNP and the Buddhist clergy.
A non-violent civil disobedience campaign is launched by FP.
The government reacts violently by sending Police and the military forces to
Jaffna to suppress the agitation.
A major anti-Tamil program breaks out in Sinhala-majority areas, killing
hundreds of Tamils and making thousands of Tamils homeless.
1959
Prime Minister Bandaranaike assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
1960
Srimavo Bandaranaike, widow of Solomon Bandaranaike becomes the first woman
Prime Minister in the world.
1964
Srimavo-Shashtri pact was signed for the repatriation of stateless plantation
workers to India.
1965
UNP's Dudley Senanayake forms government with the help of FP and other parties.
Dudley-Chelva agreement, which amounts to a diluted version of the B-C pact.
The agreement is abandoned without being implemented due to opposition from the
SLFP, the buddhist clergy, and UNP backbenchers.
FP's Tiruchelvam, Minister of Local Government, resigns from the cabinet.
1967
Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP-People's Liberation Front) is formed.
1970
Mrs Bandaranaike becomes Prime Minister, as the United Front (a coalition of
SLFP, LSSP,and CP) gains two-thirds majority.
JR Jeyawardena becomes the leader of opposition.
1971
Armed insurrection of JVP is brutally put down, with thousands of Sinhalese
youth being killed.
A state of emergency is declared, which was to continue for six long years.
1972
Ceylon becomes a Republic on May 22.
The United Front government enacts a Sinhalese-Supremacist "Republican
Constitution" for the country, which made Buddhism as the de facto state
religion.
Ironically, the architect of this constitution was the same Colvin R.de Silva,
who made the famous "one language-two nations" speech, opposing the "Sinhala
Only" legislation in 1956.
Ceylon is officially renamed Republic of Sri Lanka.
Formation of Tamil United Front (TUF) comprising FP, Tamil Congress (TC) led by
GG Ponnambalam, and Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) led by Savuriamoorthy
Thondaman.
A small youth group named Tamil New Tigers is formed in the Jaffna Peninsula to
fight for Tamil rights by a 17-year old high school student from Valvettiturai,
named Velupillai Pirabhakaran.
1974
Unprovoked attack on attendees of a prestigious International Tamil Cultural
Conference in Jaffna by Sinhalese Police leaves nine civilians dead.
State discrimination against Tamil students' admission to universities reaches a
peak with the introduction of "standardisation".
Formation of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO).
1975
Jaffna mayor and SLFP organiser Alfred Duraiyappah assassinated, apparantly in
retaliation for the attack on International Tamil Conference.
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) is formed.
1976
TUF is renamed Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and passes the "Vaddukkoddai
resolution" to restore a "free, sovereign, secular, socialist State of Tamil
Eelam based on the right to self-determination" to safeguard the very existence
of the Tamil nation in the country.
TNT is renamed and reorganized as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, with Uma
Maheswaran as its leader.
1977
Death of ailing Chelvanayagam.
Appapillai Amirthalingam becomes the leader of Feder Party.
JR Jeyewardena becomes Prime Minister when UNP routs SLFP in the general
elections to come back to power with a thumping five-sixths majority in
parliament.
TULF, contesting on a platform of seeking a mandate for a sovereign Tamil Eelam,
wins overwhelmingly in the North and does very well in Tamil-dominated areas of
East, and becomes the major opposition party in parliament.
Severe anti-Tamil riots occur immediately after elections in Sinhalese-majority
areas, killing hundreds of Tamils.
1978
New consitution is enacted and Jeyawardena becomes first Executive President of
the country.
Armed activities of Tamil militant organisations increase, with attacks on
police stations and robberies of banks.
1979
Uma Maheswaran is expelled from LTTE and forms People's Liberation Organisation
of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).
Government enacts a Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), banning Tamil militant
organisations.
Jaffna peninsula is effectively under martial law.
More anti-Tamil riots in Sinhalese-majority areas.
1980
Formation of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).
1981
Elections for District Development Councils (DDC) as an attempt to develop
power.
Further anti-Tamil riots. Increased military repression in the north, as Tamil
violence continue.
The invaluable Jaffna Public Library is burnt down by the Sri Lankan armed
forces, allegedly under the direction of two government ministers, Gamini
Dissanayake and Cyril Matthew.
1982
JR Jeyewardena defeats Hector Kobbekaduwa in the first-ever Presidential
election of the country.
1983
Major anti-Tamil program takes place in the entire country.
More than 3,000 Tamils killed and over 150,000 become refugees, many fleeing the
country to India and the West.
With increasingly restive mood of people of Tamil Nadu, the Indian government
comes out in support of the Tamil cause.
LTTE and other guerilla organisations set up training camps in India, with
direct and indirect support from various state agencies.
Thousands of youth join the militant organisations, with TULF beginning to fade
into political oblivion.
1985
LTTE, EPRLF, EROS, and TELO form Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF) to
coordinate the "revolutionary struggle for national independence".
Peace talks mediated by India in Thimbu, Bhutan, breaks down with Sri Lankan
government's reluctance to devolve power.
1985-1987
State repression and Tamil violence intensify in the North and East resulting in
all-out war between the Sri Lankan state and the Tamils.
LTTE emerges as the dominant guerilla group and effectively takes control of
Jaffna peninsula and other northern areas.
Thousands, mostly Tamils, die as fighting turns brutal, with non-combatants from
both sides are systematically targetted, firstly by the Sri Lankan armed forces
and then by Tamil guerillas.
1987
Sri Lankan government launches Operation Liberation to recapture Jaffna
peninsula.
A floatilla of Indian boats with food and medical supplies for Jaffna peninsula
was turned back by Sri Lankan Navy.
India airdrops food on Jaffna peninsula.
Indo-Sri Lankan Peace Accord signed without consulting the Tamil parties.
Tens of thousands of Indian troops arrive in Northeastern Sri Lanka as "Indian
Peace Keeping Force" (IPKF).
Initial surrender of arms by Tamil guerilla groups.
Seventeen LTTE members, including two leaders, were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy
in violation of the Peace Accord, and commit suicide.
Fighting breaks out between LTTE and IPKF,
Jaffna falls to IPKF, but fighting continues throughtout the Tamil region.
Rise of Sinhala nationalist insurrection by JVP.
1988
Assassination of Vijaya Kumaratunge, leader of United Socialist Alliance (USA),
allegedly by the JVP.
EPRLF assumes power in the Northeastern provincial Council.
Ranasinghe Premadasa of UNP wins the presidential election defeating Srimavo
Bandaranaike of SLFP.
1989
Sri Lankan President Premadasa requests the Indian government to withdraw their
troops from Sri Lanka.
JVP insurrection is brutally put down by the government.
1990
Withdrawal of IPKF from Sri Lanka and the collapse of the Northeastern
Provincial government.
Hostilities break out again between Sri Lankan forces and LTTE.
1991
Assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu by
suspected LTTE suicide bomber.
1993
Top opposition politician and former National Security minister Lalith
Athulathmudalai assassinated.
A week later, President Premadasa is killed in a suicide bomb attack.
D.B Wijetunge assumes Presidency.
LTTE leader calls for unconditional talks with the government, with a commitment
to the federation of Sri Lanka, which is rejected by President Wijetunge.
1994
People's Alliance led by Chandrika Kumaratunge wins Parliamentary elections.
LTTE unilaterally announces a temporary ceasefire to welcome the change of
government.
PA government begins peace talks with LTTE in Jaffna.
UNP's Presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake assassinated at an election
rally.
Kumaratunge wins Presidential election with a landslide on a platform of "ending
the war and bringing peace".
1995
Government and LTTE sign cessation of hostilities agreement.
More rounds of talks in Jaffna.
Government announces lifting of economic embargo on most items, but armed forces
at the border checkpoints continue to enforce the embargo.
LTTE issues two-week ultimatum in March to the government to implement their
requests, which is later extended by another three weeks to April 19th.
Government ignores the ultimatum and LTTE calls off the peace talks and resume
hostilities.
Government begins major offensive in July in parts of Jaffna peninsula after
imposing press censorship. A church and it's premises, functioning as a safe
place for refugees away from the batte zone are repeatedly bombed by Sri Lankan
Airforce killing 67 civilians, including women and children.
Government informally announces a package of devolution proposals, making Sri
Lanka a "Union of Regions".
Sri Lankan Airforce bombs school premises in Nagarkovil in Vadamaradchi region,
killing 25 school children.
Another major offensive by the government in October results in the capture of
Valigamam division and the city of Jaffna, but more than 400,000 civilians
escape to LTTE controlled Vadamaradchi, Thenmaradchi divisions of the peninsula
and to Vanni district in the mainland, virtually leaving a peopleless land for
the Sri Lankan army, including a ghosttown of Jaffna.
1996
An extensively watered down legal draft of the devolution proposals is submitted
to the Parliamentary Select Committe for discussion.
As customary, powerful buddhist clergy opposes any devolution of power.
Government launches another offensive and captures the entire Jaffna peninsula.
The armed forces also succeed in preventing a large number of people from
escaping to LTTE controlled territory by sealing off the Jaffna lagoon. Yet,
nearly half a million people are displaced from their homes and live in the LTTE
controlled Vanni region in the mainland.
Despite government's claim of the peninsula fast returning to normal life,
neutral news reporters are still barred from entering the region.
LTTE announces it's willingness to negotiate peace if mediated by a neutral
country, which is rejected by the Sri Lankan government.
LTTE launches a daring attack and overruns the army camp at Mullaitheevu,
capturing large quantities of arms and military hardware, and killing more than
1,200 soldiers.
Sri Lankan armed forces launch another offensive and captures Killinochchi,
relocated headquarters of the LTTE.
Human rights violations by the army, including rape and disappearances increase
in the Jaffna peninsula. This fact is brought to light by the revelation of the
rape and killing of Krishanthy Kumaraswamy, a Tamil school girl. The girl's
mother, brother and a neighbor were also killed when they go to the army camp,
inquiring about the fate of the girl. Nine soldiers were charged with the crime.
Death of former Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jeyawardena at the age of
90, who played a major role in sowing the seeds for the conflict and later in
it's escalation.
LTTE released 16 Sinhalese fishermen captured earlier as a goodwill gesture for
Christmas/New Year.
President Kumaratungae goes on a private holiday to India, raising speculations
and hopes of impending peace talks with LTTE with foreign mediation.
1997
The LTTE overruns a Special Task Force camp near Batticaloa in the Eastern
Province.
The LTTE launches simultaneous attacks on Sri Lanka's army camps in Paranthan
and Elephant Pass, and overruns the Paranthan camp.
Sri Lankan forces begin another major offensive in the Northern border town of
Vavuniya.
Sri Lankan forces begin a major offensive to capture a major highway running
thru Vanni.
Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Defence, General Ratwatte promises the capture of
the highway and linking Jaffna with the south before February 04, 1998, Sri
Lanka's 50th anniversary of Independence.
Elections announced for Jaffna and other local government bodies in the
peninsula.
1998
Sri Lankan armed forces shelled the residential area Karuvakeni.
Medical embargo by the Sri Lankan government in parts of North-East continues.
Sri Lankan Kfir bombers dropped bombs on towns.
Sri Lankan army commanders have blocked government relief to Tamils.
The Jaffna Teaching Hospital is on the verge of shutting down its surgical wards
owing to the short supply of items.
Two Catholic priests were killed by Sri Lankan Kfir planes.
Thousands of displaced Tamils laid seige to the offices of ICRC.
The Sri Lankan army has shot and hacked to death 9 Tamil civilians.
Eelam Groups
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TNT - Tamil New Tigers EROS - Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students EPRLF - Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front TELO - Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization PLOTE - People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam TEA - Tamil Eelam Army TENA - Tamil Eelam National Army ENLF - Eelam National Liberation Front Tamil New Tigers (TNT) The TNT was started by V. Pirabhakaran on 22nd May, 1972, soon after the promulgation of the Republican Constitution it became the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on May 5th, 1976. Velupillai Prabhakaran was born on 26.11.1954 , to T.Velupillai, a Malaysian of Tamil origin, who was a district land officer in Jaffna. V. Pirabhakaran was deeply traumatised by seeing one of his uncles burnt alive during the language riots of 1958. Pirabhakaran gradually emerged as a militant leader with a cult of personality in the militant movement. The bitter internal rivalries that were to mark the Tamil struggle in later years were absent then and Pirabhakaran, along with others attended training camps organised by EROS functionaries. In 1972, V. Prabhakaran sailed to India with others including Thangadurai and Kuttimani. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1974. The first major strike of the TNT was the assassination of the Mayor of Jaffna. On July 27, 1975 Alfred Duriappah, the Tamil Mayor of Jaffna and chief organiser of the SLFP in the region, went to the Varadaraja Perumal temple at Ponnalai in Jaffna. Four young men waiting for him at the temple attacked him as soon as he got out of his car. One of them opened fire from point blank range. The mayor tried to escape but collapsed in a pool of blood. The assailants jumped into Duriappah's car and sped away. On 05.03.1976 V. Pirabhakaran led a raid on the State run People's Bank, Puttur and escaped with half a million rupees in cash and jewelry worth Rs.2 lakhs after holding the employees at gun point. Soon after this, V. Pirabhakaran founded the LTTE on 5th May, 1976. Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students or Eelam Revolutionary Organisers (EROS) Is perhaps the only militant group today which works in collaboration with the LTTE. This group was formed in London in 1975 by Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathy, a Sri Lankan Tamil who was residing in Britain. The EROS became known only when its student wing-the General Union of Eelam Students (GUES) was subsequently formed in Madras. The EROS drew its cadres mainly from Batticaloa and Amparai districts in Eastern Sri Lanka. It was the first Tamil group which attempted to establish a close working relationship with the Muslims of Eastern Sri Lanka, who constitute the second largest ethnic group in the eastern province next to Tamils. In late 1975, they planned a four point agenda to win over the Muslims of the eastern province. The agenda, inter-alia, envisaged that the EROS would work with Muslims to settle problems of the other groups with Muslims and to have plans for military action when the necessity arises; In 1976, EROS embarked upon a programme of training by opening a militant training camp in Vavuniya, Northern Sri Lanka. Subsequently, EROS and LTTE reached an agreement and used this camp as their main base for military training. V. Prabhakaran, received his initial training at this camp. Meanwhile, the EROS leadership in London struck a relationship with Syed Hameed, the PLO Representative in U.K, who later arranged training for EROS cadres, as well as LTTE cadres, in Lebanon. In May 1976, after a visit to Beirut by an EROS representative, contact was established with the PLO leader Abu Jehad, (who was subsequently killed by the Israelis). A message was sent to Vavuniya to dispatch cadres for advanced training to Lebanon. EROS and LTTE trained together with the Palestinians in late 1976 and 1977. Around this time, signs of dissent had developed between Uma Maheswaran, the Chairman of the LTTE who was close to the TULF leadership, and V. Prabhakaran, who was an important member of the group. EROS wanted to defuse the tension and sent Uma Maheswaran for training to Lebanon in 1977. In 1980, EROS and its student wing GUES split and the EPRLF was formed. EROS:- Eelam Revolutionary Organisers (EROS) were reported to be conducting two camps in the districts of Ramnad and Pasumpon Muthuramalingam districts. There were 8 male trainees in these camps which were imparting Physical Training and Arms Training. Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) EPRLF was a break-away faction of EROS. In 1979/1980, differences over the absence of the leadership in London and organisational problems such as democratic centralism arose among the EROS leaders in Sri Lanka. The EPRLF started as a leftist group with a strong Marxist element. In 1982, they formed a military wing and later indulged in several militant activities. The policies and activities of EPRLF were strongly influenced by its leader, K. Padmanabha, who had been trained in 1976 in Lebanon by the PLO and had a political as well as a military mind. Other important leaders of the EPRLF who emerged during its inception were Varadarajah Perumal ( who later became the Chief Minister of North-Eastern Provinces) and Ketheeswaran. KIDNAPPING OF THE ALLENS An American couple, the Allens, was kidnapped about the same time as George Bush, a former CIA director and the then Vice President of the United States, was visiting New Delhi. Stanley and Mary Allen, working on a development project in Jaffna, were abducted on May 10, 1984 by militants belonging to the EPRLF. They were branded as CIA agents by the EPRLF. In order to release the Allens the EPRLF demanded Rs. 50 million in gold, to be paid to the Tamil Nadu Government, and the release of 20 EPRLF cadres. The actual plan of the EPRLF, which has been kept a secret by their leadership to date, was to seek the release of only one of their Central Committee members who was mentioned in that list of 20 cadres. The EPRLF leaders did not wish to let Colombo know who their key man was, hence the demand was made for the release of 20, almost all held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After Colombo's attempts to secure the release of the Allens, New Delhi repeatedly appealed to the EPRLF leadership, also without any success. Even though Sri Lankan intelligence reported that `The Tamil Nadu Police arrested the EPRLF leadership and the Allens were released five days after,' what really happened has been kept a secret. This is what really happened: IB and RAW had threatened Padmanabha, who was then in Madras, that if the Allens were not released, he would be deported. Under such intimidation, Padmanabha agreed to release the Allens. Later, perhaps under pressure from US, Indira Gandhi wrote a personal letter to Padmanabha urging him to release Allens as this would pose a problem to India and assured India's continued support for their struggle. The Allens were promptly released." The first hand account of what transpired at Madras which ultimately led to the release of the Allens in Jaffna has been provided by Shri K. Mohandas, former Director General of Police (Intelligence) of Tamil Nadu in his deposition before the Commission on 2nd. January, 1996. His account is as follows :- "One night I was sleeping in my house. I got a call from the US Consul General from Madras at 11 PM. He told me frantically that Mr. and Mrs. Allen, who are working as water resources experts in Jaffna had been kidnapped by militants. He wanted my assistance to rescue them. I told him how could I help him for the incident that had happened in Jaffna. He pressed that the President of the United States of America was interested. The Consul General said that a large amount of gold and six or so militants in Sri Lankan custody must be released. This must be done within 48 hours or else Mr. and Mrs. Allens would be shot dead. Then something struck me and I asked the Consul General to find out the names of the militants whom they were asking for release. Then as soon as I placed the phone down, I got a call from G. Parthasarthy from Delhi repeating the same request. I rang up MGR and took his permission to take up this matter. I immediately proceeded to office calling all my principal officers to come to the office. As soon as I reached the office, I got a call from the US Consul General revealing the names of the militants whose release the kidnappers had wanted. My officers immediately said that they were from the EPRLF. So the hunt began to find out whether there are any important EPRLF fellows in Madras. After about 24 hours, we got 3 or 4 of them sleeping in a house. There were also two women who were released. The catch was very important. Among the people we caught were one Mr. Padmanabha who was later massacred by LTTE. Then, two, Varadharaja Perumal, the subsequent Chief Minister installed by the IPKF in East Sri Lanka, and three, General Douglas, self styled, who was the chief of militant wing of the EPRLF. I asked my officers to take the three to a five star hotel. It was at about 2.00 A.M. with a lot of security, the officers started questioning. But upto 6.00 A.M. they did not budge. So I went there with two commandos with loaded revolver. I made the three fellows stand. I placed my revolver on the table and made the commandos aim with their AK-47 at them. There was silence for two minutes. I looked at them straight and said:`It is your people who have made ransom demand on Mr. Allens. I will not allow you to open your mouth. Whatever happens to Allens will happen to you three right in this room.' After five minutes, General Douglas said that he would speak to his people in Jaffna to release Allens. I said 'Mind you, nothing in return; no gold; no release of their comrades.' General Douglas contacted Jaffna and got the release of Mr. and Mrs. Allens and, within four hours, Mr. and Mrs. Allens were released at the residence of Bishop of Jaffna with their eyes blindfolded. There were kidnappings and counter kidnappings within the Sri Lankan militant groups in Tamil Nadu." EPRLF reached its peak during November 1988 and by the end of the year, on December 9th when Vardharaja Perumal was elected and installed as the Chief Minister of North Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. In Januray 1990, in Sri Lanka, after the Government formed by the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) headed by Varadharaja Perumal as the Chief Minister of the North Eastern Provinces had begun functioning, the phased de-induction of the IPKF had begun and, during this period, the internecine warfare had flared up again. The EPRLF leadership fled Sri Lanka, as the LTTE began large scale offensive against the EPRLF, and sought refuge in India. The EPRLF cadres, on the advice of the State Government of Tamil Nadu were not allowed to enter Tamil Nadu and were rehabilitated in Orissa instead; however, they could not abandon Tamil Nadu and kept visiting Madras frequently. On 19th June 1990, a hit squad of the LTTE assassinated the Secretary General K. Padmanabha of EPRLF and 14 others in Madras at about 6 PM. Padmanabha and his associates were gunned down in an apartment in the centrally located colony of Kodambakkam, Madras. The assassins drove away after the crime and escaped to Sri Lanka two days later after traversing a distance of more than 300 Kms. from Madras to Vedaranyam. Neither were they intercepted on the way nor was any effective action taken. However, after the de-induction of the IPKF, this organisation was set upon by the LTTE. K. Padmanabha, the General Secretary along with several other important EPRLF functionaries were assassinated on 19th June 1990 at Madras. Training given to the EPRLFby the Research and Analysis Wing of the Indian Government occured at the following locations: The Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) was reported to be conducting 7 training camps in the districts of Thanjavur West (3 camps), South Arcot (2 camps), Trichy ( 1 camp) and Ramnad (1 camp) with a total strength of 73 male trainees who were being trained in Guerilla warfare, Physical Training and Arms training. These camps reportedly possessed sophisticated weapons such as Light Machine -guns as well as transport vehicles. Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) This organisation was formally founded in 1979 though it was in existence since 1968 as an unstructured organisation. TELO has its origins in the Thangadorai group under the leadership of Thangadorai and Kuttimani. In one of their major acts, on March. 25, 1981, the TELO committed robbery by ambushing a "Peoples Bank" van which was returning to Jaffna town with the day's collection. An amount of Rs. 78 lakh rupees was taken and several policemen killed in this hit was masterminded by Kuttimani. Prime Minister's advisors were working overtime, giving facilities to the militants, particularly the TELO (Tamil Ealam Liberation Organisation) to be trained in the use of modern arms in the camps organised in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi and elsewhere. The idea was that after the training, they would be supplied with arms and sent to Northern Sri Lanka to engage the Sri Lankan troops in guerrilla action. It was supposed to be a top secret operation without even the knowledge of the State Government and its Intelligence agency. On April 5, 1981, Kuttimani, Thangadurai and Sellathurai Sivasubramaniam alias Thevan were arrested at Mannalkadal, near Point Pedro, while trying to escape in a boat to India. After the arrest of Thangadorai and Kuttimani, Sri Sabaratnam took over the TELO leadership. The three important TELO leaders Thangadurai, Kuttimani and Jegan were killed in a prison massacre in Wellawatte in 1983 while they were incarcerated there. After the death of these leaders, TELO could never regroup and in the ensuing internecine skirmishes, the LTTE virtually liquidated this organisation by the middle of eighties. On 27.07.83 there was a massacre allegedly by Sri Lankan security forces in the prison at Wellikade where 54 Tamil Youths alongwith Tamil militant leaders Kuttimani and Thangadurai of TELO were done to death allegedly by the Sri Lankan Army. After their deaths Sabaratnam took over leadership of TELO. But there were major internal conflicts between him and members of the organisation. On 27.2.84, BOBBY and three other TELO members were found in possession of 11.774 Kgs of gold suspected to have been looted from the Peoples Bank at Jaffna. They were caught in India. On 09.06.1984, Rajan and few others of TELO resorted to an indefinite fast near Gandhi statue in Madras, protesting against the opprobrious attitude of their leader Sri Sabaratnam. TELO leaders confined three dissident cadres of their organisation, two of whom later escaped and sought shelter in the room of one Dhayaparan, a Sri Lankan Tamil student in the Madras Medical College hostel. Sri Sabaratnam, TELO leader, sent his boys to intimidate dissidents at Mahalingapuram and Arcot Road in Madras. Sudha, the political head of the breakaway group, organised "Martyrs' Day", independent of TELO. A few boys of Sri Sabaratnam joined Sudha, and TELO planned to settle scores with them in Jaffna. On 5.5.86 the TELO leader Sabartnam was killed by the LTTE, in Sri Lanka. Military training given to TELO by the RAW in India: Five camps organised by Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) were reported to be running in the districts of Ramnad ( 3 camps) and Salem ( 2 camps). There were totally 233 male cadres undergoing this training which comprised Physical Training, Arms training, swimming and boat driving. People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) PLOTE was founded in 1980 by Karthiragamar Uma Maheswaran alias Mukundan who became its General Secretary. He was the Chairman of the LTTE from 1977-1980. He was trained in Lebanon and later in Syria. After a bitter rivalry with Velupillai Prabhakaran, Uma Maheswaran left the LTTE in 1980, and formed PLOTE. PLOTE was active in cultivating international connections: it established links with Dr.George Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Communist party of Tunisia, the Communist-Leninist Party of Algeria, the Turkish Organisation for Solidarity with Palestine, the African National Congress, the FMLN of EI Salvador, the Sandinistas of Nicaragua and the ruling parties of Mauritius and Cuba. LTTE vs PLOTE On 19th May, 1982 there was shoot out at about 2145 hrs. at Pondy Bazaar, Mambalam, Madras in which leaders of two prominent Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups opened fire at each other due to internal rivalry. The two members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Prabhakaran, and Raghavan alias Sivakumar armed with revolbers opened fire on Jotheeswaran and Mukundan alias Uma Maheswaran, members of Peoples' Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). In mid seventies both Prabhakaran and Uma Maheswaran were members of the LTTE. During the exchange of fire, Jotheeswaran sustained bullet injuries both in his right and left thighs. Mukundan was also shot at but escaped unhurt. The accused V.Pirabhakaran and Sivakumar were arrested and remanded. Both of them were proclaimed offenders of the Sri Lankan Government with a reward on their head of Rs. 5 lakhs each. On 25th May, 1982 Uma Maheswaran was arrested near Gummidipoondi-railway station. At the time of arrest, he opened fire with his revolver and therefore another case was registered against him under the Indian Arms Act. In the meantime, on 23rd May, 1982 Sivaneswaran alias Niranjan, an accomplice of Mukundan was also arrested at Saidapet, Madras and an unlicensed revolver seized from him. All these accused remained in Judicial custody till 5th August, 1982 when they were released by the orders of the court on conditional bail. The LTTE cadres including their leader V.Pirabhakaran had taken up residence at Mylapore Madras, while the leaders and members of the PLOTE had been staying at Saidapet, Madras. PLOTE lost its strength and momentum gradually due to the increasing criminalisation of its cadres and despotic methods of Uma Maheswaran. In July 1989, Uma Maheswaran was shot dead in Colombo suspectedly due to intra-organisational differences. PLOT:- The Peoples Liberation Organisation for Tamil Eelam (PLOT) was conducting training in 18 camps located in the districts of Thanjavur West (11 camps), Pudukottai ( 4 camps), Tirunelvei East (2 camps) and Thanjavur East (1 camp). Totally 2236 cadres in addition to 94 female cadres were getting trained in these camps. The camps possessed transport facilities, boats and some weapons. Predominantly, the training comprised guerrilla warfare and also Physical Training, Swimming and Boat Driving. Tamil Eelam Army (TEA) On 23.12.1985, a jeep belonging to TEA accidently hit girl students of Kasturba Gandhi Kanya Gurukulam at Vedaranyam while they were proceeding from their school towards a temple. The students sustained simple injuries. A case was registered. The driver was arrested. People were agitated. TEA, EPRLF and PLOTE representatives attended a condolence meeting and expressed grief. But the public were sore that the top leader of the TEA did not attend the meeting. A condemnatory procession was taken out and when the processioners attacked a settlement of TEA cadres, the cadres opened fire in the air to scare away the processionists. MEENAMBAKKAM AIRPORT BOMB BLAST There was a bomb blast at the Madras International Airport on the 3rd. August 1984 in which over 30 persons were killed and several others were injured. There was an estimated damage to the Airport of over Rs. 50 lakhs. Initially thought to be the planted by the Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence agency, with a view to discrediting the Tamil militants at the behest of Sri Lankan Government. |
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But the Crime Branch/CID
investigation revealed the involvement of a small group called TEA (Tamil
Eelam Army). Involved were: (1) the TEA Chief "Panegoda" Maheswaran (so
called because of his daring escape from the maximum security prison at
Panegoda in Sri Lanka) who was a chemical engineering graduate from London
University and an expert in explosives. (2) Vigneswara Raja, retired
Collector of Customs in Sri Lanka; (3) Thambi Raja, a Sri Lankan national;
(4) Vijayakumar, and (5) Loganathan, both Indian nationals working for Air
Lanka; and (6) Chandrakumar, a police constable attached to the Airport
police station. The objective of the TEA was not to blast Madras airport, but to plant a bomb on the Air Lanka plane leaving Madras for Colombo, with the timing so adjusted as to have the bomb explode in Colombo airport. The plan misfired because of the delay in the take off of the Air Lanka aircraft. Vigneswara Raja, Thambi Raja, Vijayakumar, Loganathan and Chandrakumar were arrested immediately, while Maheswaran absconded. During the course of the investigation from a suburban house in Madras a similar timing device was seized apart from 100 kg of gelatine sticks, detonator wires, chemicals like red phosphorous and sodium metal, crystal capacitors, 1 kg of potassium cyanide and currency worth Rs. 200,000 (both Indian and Foreign). It was apparent that the time-bomb used at the airport was manufactured in this house, and this was corroborated by the arrested Sri Lankan nationals. The members of the TEA who were Kadiresan, Thambiraja, Sri, Ramu and Dhandapani planned during the period February to July, 1984 to cause bomb blast at Colombo to cause harm to the Sri Lankan Army as a retaliatory act to the atrocities caused by the Sri Lankan Army to the Tamil civilians of Northern Sri Lanka. During the course of the mission, the TEA purchased explosives in the form of gelatine from Palayamkottai. |
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The gelatine was purchased
from National Trading company on three occasions during March to July, 1984.
The TEA had also purchased detonators from the same shop. The shop was a
licensed explosive shop which sold explosives to quarry contractors. The TEA
then stored the explosives in a house at Anna Nagar, Madras. The original plan was to have Kadiresan board the Air Lanka Flight from Madras to Colombo on 31.7.84 alongwith two suit cases filled with explosives equiped with a timing device. However, on 31.7.84 at about pm when Kadiresan got the suitcases weighed at the checking counter, the weight was found to be in excess by 35 Kgs. Since he did not have money to pay the extra charges, he cancelled his plane ticket and came back with the two suitcases. On 2.8.84 at about 6 p.m., Kadiresan again went to the Meenambakkam airport, this time to board the Air Lanka flight UL 122 to Colombo. Kadiresan got the baggage checked in and paid excess baggage fare. Each of the two boxes filled with explosives weighed 55 kgs. To misguide the investigators, Kadiresan got his name changed in the passenger manifest from Kadiresan to Jadiresan. The two boxes were sent to the Customs hall for checking. Since a Kadiresan did not come forward to get the suitcases checked, the flight left without the accused as well as the boxes. The accused went away from the airport leaving the suitcases abandoned in the Customs hall. Realizing that the time bomb will explode at the airport, the accused made anonymous call at about 2210 hrs. to the Security manager that the bombs were kept in the two boxes. Another call was given by the accused at 2245 hrs. However, while the two boxes were in the process of being removed, they exploded at 2250 hrs. After the crackdown on it in the wake of the blast at the Meenambakkam Airport, the TEA has thinned down and finally faded away in India. |
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Tamil Eelam National Army (TENA)
The Tamil Eelam National Army (TENA) was organised by Bagirathan Ravi in Ettara, near Tiruchirapalli and later moved them to Karur. Bagirathan Ravi was the son of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader, Amirthalingam. The TULF were a non-violent political organisation. Like other militant organizations the TENA recieved training from the Indian RAW. During their training in India they had 1 camp, and 25 trainees. During March 1985 TELA split into two factions, one led by Rajan and the other by Kanthan. Towards the end of March 1985, one Lion of TELA(Rajan) group fired a round from a revolver in a confrontation with Susilan and two others who had left TELA to throw in their lot with PLOT. On 28.03.1985, seven members of TELA went to Pattukottai from Madurai and one of them fired a shot with his revolver to scare three cadres of TELA who had earlier defected to PLOTE and who were then collecting funds in Pattukottai bus stand. A daring incident of abduction and blackmail was reported from Madurai on 9.11.85 involving one Naresh, son of a Government coroner in Sri Lanka. This youth was abducted by some members of the TELA (Rajan) group and kept captive near Sirumalai. Not content with taking away 25 sovereigns of gold jewellery in his possession, his abductors also sent ransom notes demanding one lakh rupees for his release. Police swooped on their camp and secured his release and also arrested 17 persons. Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF) During November 1985 four militant groups namely Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE). Eelam People Revolutionary Liberation Front(EPRLF) & Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Tamil (ERO) joined together to form a front called Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF). This union was short lived. |
Rape & murder
CHEMMANI MASS
GRAVES
Analysis by Eelam Nation
Rape, murder, disappearances are part of the Tamils' daily life in Eelam. The
Sri Lankan government troops recaptured the Jaffna Peninsula from the Tamil
Tigers in the late 1995 in Operation Riveresa (Sunshine). Since that at least
700 innocent Tamil civilians have been extrajudicially killed by the security
forces or disappeared after being taken into security forces custody and are
presumed dead. The School girl Krishanthi and a family of Tamils, mostly young
men, had been murdered and disposed of in mass graves, and he added that he
prepared to identify the graves in the village of Chemmani area, 15 miles south
of Jaffna city. He also reportedly said, "almost every evening, dead bodeis were
brought there and the soldiers were asked to bury them." The majority Sinhalese
government ordered an inquiry into the allegation in July. But work was delayed,
the government said, because of the floods and difficulties finding specialist
investigators. The people of Tamil Eelam, feared that Sinhalese government would
bring the solution for the Chemmani mass graves.
The investigation by the Sri Lankan government into the mass graves at Chemmani
in the Northern Jaffna Peninsula had to be delayed till the monsoon rains washed
away the evidence. It is wishful thinking of expect a police, or military
inquiry not to be biased, when one of their own ranks is the accused. A Task
Force sitting in the safety of Colombo(capital of Sri Lanka), collecting
statistics of missing persons is a waste of public money. We have an ongoing war
in this country; there are no observers in the area of conflict. Our Foreign
Minister, himself foreign to the North and East, repeatedly states this is an
internal affair, no outside comments or mediation is welcome. We have only the
version of the Army spokesman to present their view. Murder in custody, torture,
and rape area few items of news that filter through the screen of regulations
governing the press. Rape in Ceylon is fair game. Arrests are made, but the
culprits are often released on the orders of Sinhalse political overloards.
Punishment never fits the crime. The Sri Lankan Ministry of Justice is strangely
slow to propose deterent punishment for rape, murder, and other government
troops violences against Tamils.
The Sinhala weekly "Yukthiya" published a map, during the second week of July
1999, that showed the location of the graves. It also reported that after
Operation Riveresa senior commanding officers in Jaffna gave orders for the
killing and sending of bodies to the Chemmani checkpoint for burial. The weekly
said that the security forces also sent live prisoners to Chemmani to be killed
and buried. The paper mentioned that Jaffna was under the command of Brigadier
Sri Lal Weerasuriya under whom Brigadiers Karunatilake and Janaka Perera were
handling security in assigned areas. It added that Brigadier Janaka Perera was
in command of Chemmani at the time of the mass murderes and burials.
"Torture, deaths in custody, disappearances are widespread in the island. A
dozens of women and children have "disappeared" after being taken by the
security forces in the Tamil areas. Tamils continued to be held in secret places
of detention especially in the Jaffna Peninsula, Colombo and Vavuniya." "Sri
Lanka ranked second highest in the world in its total number of recorded
'disappearances,' as the United Nations working group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances noted in its 1995 report," adding that Sri Lanka still ranks
second highest in the world, after Sudan.
The Sri Lankan government under pressure to prove it's bona fides by ensuring a
speedy and fair trail. That it did so is creditable and in the final analysis
the government won many admirers from the assorted human rights watchdog groups
and thereby enhanced its credibility in the eyes of the international community.
The Sinhalese government forensics experts collected soil samples in a desolate,
muddy field in Chemmani area for the further experiments on March 05/1999. The
additional magistrate N.Arulsegaram, a large number of journalists, the
additional government analyst, CID bigwigs, human rights personnel and other
officials visited to Chemmani.
Somaratne Rajapakse was not present to identify the exact location of the
alleged graves. The team in its effort to identify the spot was to refer to the
statement given to the police by Rajapakse, in which he supplied certain
landmarks. Among the clues was the plot on the left side of the main road and
that part of it contained a cemetry. Some time was spent mulling over the
presence of a by-road not mentioned in the statement, and over the possibility
of the alleged mass graves being on the left side of this road. The officials,
however, agreed they would examine the plot of land adjoining the main road,
dismissing the second plot, where Krishanthi Kumaraswami's body was found. It
was more vast and parts of it was inundated.
Inside the dim and crowded Yarlpanam courthouse, additional magistrate
N.Arulsegaram conducted the inquiry into the alleged Chemmani mass graves with
an air or judicial austerity. Outside, in the sunny courtyard, women wailed and
men blinked the tears away from their eyes. The sound of their collective
wailing forced the officials in the courthouse to occasionally raise their
voices to make themselves heard. Several times, the police appealed to the
grieving men and women to control their emotions. Indrani Selvarajah, whose
19-year-old son disappeared aften being arrested by the military in 1996. She
told, "we want to find out the truth for ourselves." Another mother Sarojini
Nagamma cried to the reporter, whose 23-year-old son has been missing for 16
months, came as close as she could. "I fear he is there," she said, pointing to
the site.
Tamilians are in Tamil Eelam and Sri Lanka facing for their own lives, but Sri
Lankan government foreign minister repeatedly states this is an internal affair,
no outside comments are welcome, and they are getting money for the weapons from
other countries to kill Tamilians. Until that, many Chemmani would come by the
Sinhalese troops with the help of Sinhalse government. However, Sri Lankan
government is not going to take responsible for the graves until other
governments stop their financial support to the Sri Lankan government, and the
world community must take responsible to force the Sinhalese government to stop
killing innocent civilians in the small and beutiful island Ceylon.
Tamil community urges the world communities to ensure that:
* The site of the mass graves in Chemmani be identified without any further
dealy under the direction of international specialists.
* The identified site be protected as per the UN Model Protocol for the
disinterment and analysis of skeletal remains.
* Before the informant and the remains from the site disappear the international
community intervenes and brings justice to those whose remains are in mass
graves and to those who have disappeared while in the custody of the armed
forces of
Sri Lanka.
Sinhalese government is not going to give justice for the Chemmani graves, also
Tamils are not expecting justice from the majorty Sinhalse government. The
government was under pressure to prove it at this time because of the word "Chemmani"
hit the national and international headlines in the first week of March/1999.
After much ado, preliminary work on exhumations at this alleged mass grave site
were begun under the watchful eyes of the local and international media and a
host of human rights organisations. After the investigations, the government
might satisfy the world communities by saying there was no such an evidence for
the mass graves.
Tamilians are expecting the soldier Somaratne Rajapakse must to identify the
exact location of the alleged mass graves in Chemmani. He is the only man known
the exact location as he said in the court. The additional compromises to the
Tamils and the world community by the Sinhalse government, not going to bring a
justice. Even it makes complicate the Tamils and the world community. The world
community must take responsible to force the Sinhalse government to stop killing
innocent civilians in the small and beutiful island Ceylon. At least 70,000
Tamil innocent civilians killed by the Sinhalese government in the last 16 years
of chronology war, in addition of at least 700 civilians have been arrested and
most of them killed by the government troops and they buried in Chemmani. World
Tamilians and the world community must force the Sinhalse government to bring
the justice for the Chemmani mass graves.
Tamil Eelam Martyrs
SALUTE TO OUR
FALLEN HEROES
Tamil Eelam celebrates National Heroes Day on the 27th of November. The occasion
is held to remember the first LTTE fighter to die for the cause of a free Tamil
Eelam. Lt.Shanker died on 27 November 1982 after being fatally wounded in a Sri
Lankan army round-up. The people of Tamil Eelam mark the occasion with
activities such as prayer, cultural events and community service in memory of
all their martyred heroes. The wide spread observance of this
occasion denotes Tamil peoples' proud consciousness of their own national
identity and dedication to the liberation of their people from Sinhala rule.
When in 1948, the British introduced parliamentary democracy that is based on
the majority rule in Ceylon the death - blow to peace in the ethnically divided
country was set in. The spark that was set in 1948 brought havoc into the
country in 1958 burning Tamils alive and Tamil babies dipped in boiling tar
barrels in the form of an ethnic riot erupted by the Sinhala Buddhist
nationalism cry of some petty minded politicians. The leader, none other than
Steven West Richard Dias Bandaranayake, the father of the present president
Chandrika .
Since then all what a section of a nation of the country-the Tamils- saw is
oppression, discrimination, ethnic hatred and brutal killings. Tamils were
systematically and systemically oppressed. Every attempts of Tamils in all
possible democratic and non-violent methods to gain their rights proved to be
futile. In contrary it was the democratically elected Sinhala government that
orchestrated ethnic violence to suppress Tamils. This took the form of ethnic
riots in 1958, 1965, 1971, 1977, 1983 and thereafter as a continuous process.
Thousands of Tamils were brutally killed.
It was in such a situation, when Human rights was found to be no more the
concern of every successive Sinhala Government , Tamil youths felt that there
was no other alternative left to protect the innocent Tamil mass from the
onslaught and to establish their rights to self determination.
Until 1989, One thousand three hundred and seven Martyrs had sacrificed
themselves for the sake of the Tamil nation. 663 of them attained martyrdom
while fighting the Sri Lankan forces and 644 against the Indian Peace Keeping
Forces who out stood the Sri Lankan forces in their brutality. ‘Martyrs’, which
is the closest in meaning for ‘Maveerargal’ in Tamil conveys a more delicate and
profound meaning in its context. It is devotion,sacrifice, willingness,
perfection, dedication, sincerity, and above all a right to act which they chose
for themselves. Maveerargal are honoured, appreciated, loved and admired. They
are bound by the love for their fellow beings, the language, the land and for
freedom. Their very memories are vibrant and purifying
and should always be with us. Remembered with the same kind of dignity as "Maveerargal",
without any kind of special attribute to any one.
Taking this into consideration, in 1989,our National leader Veluppillai
Prabhakaran announced November 27 as the Maveerar day in remembrance of Shankar,
a martyr. The whole week commencing on November 21, is a week of solemn
celebrations. These days are the most important and thrilling days of Eelam
Tamils. The activities for these days are planned well to recall the memories of
the Maveerar. The sight can never fade away from ones mind. The memories
revitalize everyone present and give more
vigour and determination to work for the dawn of Tamil Eelam.
To hear that the occupying Sri Lankan forces have destroyed and demolished one
of such memorial fields in Jaffna is distressing and heartbreaking but is an
obvious example of the inhuman morale of the forces.
MAAVEERAR DAY: WHAT IT MEANS TO TAMILS ABROAD
Martyrs, according to the Tamils are souls who overcame death. They live forever
an dtheir memories are cherished and remain forever in every Tamil. Hence
celebrating a few days to remember them is just to remind and refresh our
memories about them and to enforce the fact that every one of us has the duty to
convey the message to the growing Tamil community and to the future generation
of Tamils. The
history of martyrs develops as an inspirable part of the history of Tamils.
Tamils today, in every corner of
the world find pride in calling themselves as Tamils, largely due to these
martyrs.
From time immemorial, Tamil language was nurtured by poets and kings. It is our
duty to be thankful to them. But strangely enough, we see a generation of Tamils
becoming the slaves of numerous other languages that developed only after the
10th century A.D. They are the siblings of a rich language that is said to be
the oldest of all languages. Parents, who very well know the pride and rich
heritage of the Tamil language, also encourage this directly or indirectly,
without realizing hte danger to the future
generation.
The memories of martyrs is a treasure that has been given to us to provide us a
sense of belonging to a certain nation/ community.The more we recall their
memories, the more we get a sense of who we really are and where we come from
and what has brought us here. It is only under such an enlightened state,can we
keep our identities alive and provide the next generation the same. The memories
of the martyrs keep enforcing the history of Tamils and unite them as a
community that has fought bravely for the freedom of it's country.
Martyrs have sacrificed their precious lives for the sake of Tamils/Tamil
language and the Tamil nation. They have done the greatest sacrifices possible
and have left us only the duty of safeguarding the language in our lands and
wherever we go. Let us join as Tamils on this day and work our best for the
freedom of our land while keeping the memories of the martyrs and the cause they
fought for, alive and fresh in our mind.
Eelam War
EELAM WAR II
1987
10th Oct:
Bombing of Eelamurasu and murasoli by the IPKF. Beginning of the IPKF-LTTE war.
10th Oct:
The first woman LTTE freedom fighter was martyred. 2nd Lt.Malathi fell in
battle. Tamil Eelam women's day is celebrated on 10th of Oct.
1988
September:
IPKF-LTTE war results Indian occupation of the North and East saturating the
region with 100,000 IPKF troops.
Feb:
Assassination of Moderate Sinhala leader Vijaya Kumaranatunge. JVP was accused.
Nov:
Elections to the North-East Provincial councils. EPRLF Perumal appointed as
Chief Minister. TULF walks into
parliament via backdoors. It is now ready to take the oath it refused in 1983.
Dec:
Bill to simplify the procedures for granting citizenship to "Indian Tamils"
passed despite SLFP, MEP opposition.
Dec:
Premadasa elected President, promises to send back IPKF troops to India.
1989
April:
President Premadasa and LTTE agree on ceasefire and forcing the withdrawal of
IPKF.
July:
IPKF begins pulling out its troops from North and East.
Sep:
Intensified operations against the JVP. Mass murders of JVP sympathizers and
floating bodies..
Nov:
SL government announces the death of Rohana Wijeweera of JVP.
1990
Feb 23:
Premadasa begins talks with Tigers
March 13:
India completes IPKF pullout after its costly unsuccessful attempt to resolve
the ethnic conflict.
June 11:
Talks fail; Government declares Eelam War II, under Ranjan Wijeratne, resuming
aerial bombardment, naval attacks,
artillery shelling, and economic embargo.
1991
March 2:
Ranjan Wijeratne killed in a bomb explosion allegedly set by the LTTE. Rumors
still persist of a conspiracy by the
Premadasa group to prevent Wijeratne's ascension to power.
May 21:
Rajiv Gandhi killed in a bomb explosion in Madras, alleged to be by the LTTE.
Theories still persist that several Indian interests were involved in the
assassination.
June:
Kokkaticholai massacre of 150 Tamils.
July:
Operation Akayam Kadal Veli in Elephant Pass.
1992
May:
TADA: India bans LTTE
May:
Athulathmudali (leader of the opposition party murdered) by a gunman allegedly
from the LTTE. Accusations from his
wife and others still point at the Premadasa government's involvement in the
assassination.
Note: Recent court hearings in Sri Lanka establish that the assassination was
framed, exonerates the LTTE, and points to Sinhala Political rivals
masterminding the killing with the connivance of high levels of the Lankan
Police force.
Sep:
General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and six other key military personnel killed in Arali
prematurely halting an impending
onslaught on Jaffna.
Nov:
Britain lifts arms embargo to Sri Lanka.
Dec:
Admiral Clancy Fernando killed in Colombo.
1993
2nd Jan:
Kilaly Massacre: Navy boats surrounded 4 drifting boats with civilian
passengers; naval personnel board them and open
fire indiscriminately hacking and stabbing the passengers and set one boat on
fire. All 35 bodies floating in the lagoon recovered bore marks of gun shot and
stab injuries. Some had been charred beyond recognition. Only 18 bodies were
identified.
11th Jan:
Kilaly Massacre: 11 corpses in highly decomposed state were washed ashore at
Pooneryn-Nallur and were buried along
the shores of the lagoon.
May 1:
President Premadasa killed in a bomb explosion in Colombo allegedly set by the
LTTE. Rumors abound that this was
done by gang members of his inner-circle.
29th July:
Kilaly Massacre: Navy personnel who came in 5 gun boats carried out a large
scale massacre of civilian passengers.
Two boats carrying full load of passengers were attacked. 8 bodies were
recovered by Sea Tigers next day.
September:
Operation Yarl Devi by the Sri Lankan forces in the Palai area ends in failure
with heavy military losses.
Nov 11:
Operation Frog Leap at Pooneryn camp conducted by the LTTE results in heavy
military casualties. LTTE demonstrates
capability to wage conventional warfare.
1994
Aug 16:
Peoples Alliance Party led by Chandrika Kumaratunge assumes power.
Oct 13:
Peace talks begin in Jaffna between Chandrika Kumaratunge's government and the
Tigers.
Oct 24:
Opposition leader Gamini Dissanayake and 50 others killed by a suicide bomber.
Nov 12:
LTTE declares unilateral ceasefire and calls the government for peace talks.
1995
Feb 04:
Third round of talks.
March 16:
Tigers express concern over non-fulfillment of agreement on issues raised at
meetings. Tigers release 14 POWs, setting
March 28 as the deadline (later extended to April 19) for government to resolve
outstanding issues related to economic
mbargo (on food, fuel, fishing, medical supplies)
April 10:
Fourth round of Talks.
EELAM WAR III
April 19:
LTTE withdraws from the peace talks noting lack of government action; blow up 2
government navy ships in the
Trincomalee port killing 12 sailors
July 9:
Eelam War III. SL Army commences 'Operation Leap Forward' with thousands of
troops and advances on two axes.
July 11:
Government announces that a comprehensive set of proposals relating to the
devolution of power to North and East would
be presented within a fortnight, but electing to continue the military
operations to 'liberate' the people of the North from the LTTE.
July 13:
Thousands of civilians flee the suburbs of Jaffna. Navaly church bombing kills
121. More than 2000 seriously wounded in indiscriminate shelling.
Aug 7:
A Bomb reportedly concealed in a coconut cart explodes in Colombo killing 24
people.
Sept 21:
Government imposes strict military censorship. Hours after censorship is
imposed, Sri Lankan war planes indiscriminately bomb civilian targets in the
North, killing at least 100 civilians including 30 school children in Nagarkovil.
Oct 18:
Bomb attack at the oil depots in Kolonnawa and and Orugodawatte killing 20
security officers.
Oct 31:
'Operation Riveresa' results in mass exodus of civilian population from Jaffna,
creating a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions. Relief agencies warn of
danger from hunger, malaria and other diseases.
Nov 03:
'UN Secretary General expresses concern over the massive displacement of
civilians, and appealing for assistance by
humanitarian agencies.
Nov 05:
SL Government bans international agencies from aiding Tamil refugees in the
North. Sri Lanka's 1996 budget presented with defense allocation increased to
more than US $700 million.
Nov 05:
SL Government bans international agencies from aiding Tamil refugees in the
North. Sri Lanka's 1996 budget presented with defense allocation increased to
more than US $700 million.
Nov 05:
Government controlled media instigates Sinhala mob (up to 3000) to disrupt the
NGO forum meeting and assault 3 Sri
Lankan journalists.
Dec 05:
Sri Lanka army raises the National Flag over the center of the Jaffna city,
captured after a fierce 50 day offensive, having flattened much of the populated
areas between Palaly airport and Jaffna.
Chronlogical events for 1996, 97 and 98 will be updated soon.
Early militancy
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Part 1: The Beginnings 1960s
and Early 1970s Part 2: Formation of Tamil New Tigers 1970s Part 3: Emergence of Uma Maheswaran and LTTE - Late 1970s Part 4: The Split of LTTE PART 1 It is VIRTUALLY impossible to set a date for the genesis of Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka. Tamils began weaving dreams of an independent homeland much before militancy erupted, albeit in an embryonic form, in the late 1960's and early 1970's. After 1956 riots, a group of Tamils organized and opened fire at the Sri Lankan army in Batticaloa. Two Sinhalese were killed when 11 Tamils, having between them seven rifles, fired at a convoy of Sinhalese civilians and government officials one night at a village near Kalmunai. There was another attack on army soldiers in Jaffna after Colombo stifled the Federal Party "satyagraha" in 1961, but no one was killed. The failure of the 1961 "satyagraha" set several of its leading lights thinking. Mahatma Gandhi, they argued, succeeded in India with his concept of non-violence and non-cooperation because he was leading a majority agains a minority, however powerful; whereas in Sri Lanka, the Tamils were a minority seeking rights from a majority. And the majority was not willing to give concessions. Some of 20 men associated with the Federal Party thought Gandhisam had no place in such a separate state. Most of them were civil servants and had been influenced by Leion Uris Exodus. At a meeting in Colombo, they christened their group Pulip Padai (Army of Tigers). On August 12, 1961, the Pulip Padai members converged at the historic Koneswaran Temple in the eastern port of town of Trincomalee and, standing in its holy precincts facing the sea took a solemn oath to fight for a Tamil homeland. Pulip Padai immediately got into the act, putting out leaflets and pamphlets printed clandestinely, advocating militancy. A student wing called the Manavar Manram (students council) was set up in 1963. Two Federal Party leaders the Pulip Padai strongly backed were Amirthalingam and V.N. Navaratnam (chavakachcheri MP). The 1965 decision of the Federal Party to support the UNP government broke up the Pulip Padai and it eventually withered away. But many of its activists remained strongly committed to the concept of an independent nation. Two of them were A. Rajaratnam and Sivagnanasundaram. Rajaratnam died in 1975 in Madras of asthma. Sivagnanasundaram became the staunch supporter of the LTTE. He was killed in Jaffna in 1988 by the EPRLF. In 1969, Thangathurai and Kuttimani and a few friends gathered in Jaffna to form an informal group that the former wanted to name the Tamil Liberation Organization (TLO). A college professor's house at Point Pedro, in Jaffna, was a regular meeting point for the group. It included among others Periya (big) Sothi, Chinna (small) Sothi, Chetti, Kannadi (a radio mechanic), Sri Sabaratnam (TELO leader) and V.Prabhakaran (LTTE supremo). One man who drifted by but broke away to chart an independent course was Ponnudorai Sivakumaran, who was to become one of the first martyrs to the Tamil cause. In April, 1971, Thangathurai, known as mama (uncle) and some 15 others were making explosives at the Thondamanaru high school when a bomb went off, seriously injuring Chinna Sothi. The next year, a smiliar blast occured, causing burn injuries to Thangathurai, Chinna Sothi, Prabhakaran and V. Nadesuthasan. Earlier, in 1970, Ponnudorai Satyaseelan founded the Tamil Manavar Peravai (Tamil Students League), which was joined by Sivakumaran. Bandaranaike had in the meanwhile begun to take a hard line towards Tamils, cutting off foreign exchange for Tamil students going to India for higher studies, banning the import of Tamils films, books and Magazines from Tamil Nadu, and proscribing the small Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party in Jaffna. Sivakumaran attempted to assassinate Sri Lankan deputy minister for Cultural Affairs Somaweera Chandrasiri in September 1970 and Alfred Duraiyappah, the Jaffna Mayor, in February 1971. The formation of TUF in 1972 led to the Tamil Elaingyar Peravai (TYL-Tamil Youth League) in january 1973. It was founded by some 40 youths, many of whom subsequently were in the forefront militant movement. The TYL drew support from Thangathurai, the TLO leader. Satyaseelan's arrest in February 1973 set off the second round of mass arrests in Jaffna and virtually crippled the TYL as well as the older Tamil Students League. Several young men laguished in prison until 1977, although some gained amnesty on the eve of the Kankesanthurai by-election in 1975. By then two developments had occured in the Indian subcontinent which had a bearing on the Tamils. One was the JVP insurrection which was stamped out. The second was the India Pakistan war which led to the birth of Bangladesh. Both events took place in 1971. The JVP was never popular among Tamils, although it did have marginal support in Jaffna. In 1973, the Sri Lankan navy seized a boat belonging to Kuttimani filled with dynamite. Kuttimani fled to India, but was arrested and deported from Tamil Nadu to face a Sri Lankan prison sentence. Tamil Nadu was then governed by M. Karunanithi's DMK party. Jaffna witnessed its first case of death by cyanide poisoning the next year. Sivakumaran had been lying low for a while, but took an active interest in the 1974 International Tamil Conference in Jaffna. He had been influenced by his parent's pro-Federal Party views. He studied at Urumpirai Hindu College which was to several recruits to the Eelam campaign-up to the advanced level, majoring in Chemistry. He is the only one among the Tamils of that era who is remembered fondly by everyone. He was a very sensitive person. He believed that despite the need for militancy, the Federal Party was important and often compared Chelvanayagam with Mahatma Gandhi and the boys with Subash Chandra Bose. He was a restless character. He would discuss all night, emphasizing the need for an armed struggle. Since breaking off from Thangathurai, Sivakumaran had set up his group, which came to be known as the Sivakumaran's group. The 1972 & 1973 mass arrests had slowed down his pace. His contemporaries say he was a shattered man after the Tamil Conference fiasco. He had worked for its success, and it pained him that nine people died for no fault of theirs. Since then he had passionately advocated vengeance-against Duraiyappah, the Mayor, and a Sinhalese police officer he held responsible for the deaths. On June 5, 1974, Sivakumaran was trapped by the police while attempting a bank robbery in Jaffna's Kopai town. He was 17 years of aga and knowing about police torture if he were caught, he used to carry a cyanide pill. On that day he swallowed it without so much as an afterthought and died almost instantly. Thus was born Sri Lanka's cyanide culture. Hundreds thronged Sivakumaran's funeral. All shops in Jaffna downed their shutters in mouring and hundreds of pamphlets were distributed in the town and its outskirts, eulogizing the martyr as Eelam's Bhagat Singh. At the funeral, several TYL members slashed their fingers and with the blood that dripped placed dots on their foreheads, pleding collectively to continue the fight for an independent state. Tamils later put up a bronze statue outside Jaffna in the memory of the young man-it showed a defiant youth, his clinched fist outstretched and dangling a broken chain. PART 2 In 1974, Jaffna engulfed in protests when Bandaranike visited the town to open a university campus. The Mayor, Duraiyappah did his best to bring crowds to her meeting. The visit was preceded be several acts of violence which the police blamed on the newly-formed Tamil New Tigers (TNT) of Prabhakaran. Bombs were thrown at a police jeep in Kankesanthurai, a port town. Another bomb went off at the residence of a communist leader who was to be the premier's interpreter and some more incidents. The first successful robbery blamed on Tamil militants took place in 1974 when 91,000 rupees was taken away from the Multipurpose Cooperative Society to Tellipallai. Tamil source said Chetti and one of his cousins were among the responsible for the robbery, while one published account attributed the raid to Prabhakaran. Around the same time Chetti slipped to Tamil Nadu and teamed up with a crowd from Valvettithurai that was camping in Salem. By the start of 1975, general strikes and other forms fo protests were the order of the day in Jaffna. Time and again police cracked down on suspected militants whose number was slowly on the upswing. In January 1975, several TYL members released from Colombo prisons on the eve of the Kankesanthurai by-election returned to Jaffna to heroes' welcome. Dozens of youths campaigned for the aging Chelvanayagam, who was contesting the polls, not because they argued with his politics of moderation but wanted him to win to prove that Tamils no longer desired a federation with Sri Lanka. Two underground groups were active in 1975. The Thangathurai group, benefit of Kuttimani, adn the TNT, which in informed circles came to be known as the Prabhakaran's group. Both enjoyed the tacit blessings of Amirthalingam. In January 1975, a group of Sri Lankan Tamils residing in London formed the Eelam Revolutionary Organizers, which took the acronym EROS. Although it failed to take roots in Sri Lankann Tamils areas for a long time, it played a key role in shaping the growith of militancy. The Duraiyappah assassination was the first political murder in Sri Lankan's northeast. Chelvanayagam's election victory had queered the pitch for the Eelam campaign. Although the sickly Tamil leader was a Gandhian by faith, neither afford to criticize the murder. The number of militants in Jaffna then could not have been more than 50. The popular perception among the ordinary Tamils was that the "boys", as the young guerrillas were called with adoration, were acting under the orders, if not the control, of the TUF and that they could and would be caged if need be. On March 5, 1976 Prabhakaran led a raid on the state run People's Bank at Puttur and escaped with a half a million rupees in cash and jewellery worth of 200,000 rupees after holding the employees at gun point. It was the first successful bank robbery in Jaffna. Prabhakaran founded the LTTE on May 5, 1976. Barely 10 days later, the TUF held its first convention at Pannakam, Amirthalingam's birth place. On May 14, 1976, exactly four years after the TUF's formation, the main star of the TUF convention was Amirthalingams, although Chelvanayagam was presiding over the meeting. Since Chlevanayagam's victory, leaders of the erstwhile Federal Party and its traditional rival, The Tamil Congress, had come closer. On that day, they jointly announced the formation of the Tamil Liberation Front (TULF), which described the Sri Lankan Tamils as "a nation distinct and apart from the Sinhalese". This convention resolved that the restoration and reconstitution of the Free, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil Eelam based on the right of self-determination inherent in every nation has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil nation in this country. And it was with this resolution that the TULF went to the electorate in the July 1977 elections, now overdue by two years. From the Tamil standpoint, the 1977 polls were momentous in 3 ways. 1. For the 1st time, one of Sri Lanka's main parties admitted publlicly that there existed a Tamil problem. 2. For the 1st time, a Tamil party was propelled as the mail opposition in the Sri Lankan parliament. 3. The sweeping outcome in the northeast polls catapulted Tamil militancy. The UNP, now galvanized by Jayawardene, came into power accepting the position that there are numerous problems confronting the Tamil-speaking people. The TULF, led by Amirhtlaingam (Chelvanayagam had died in April 1977) asked the Tamils "to proclaim with the stamp of finality and fortitude that we alone shale rule over our land our forefathers ruled. Sinhalese imperialism shall quit our Homeland". The TULF was recognized as the opposition party in parliament and Amirthalingam became the opposition leader in the house, a post which carried the status of a cabinet minister. The TULF secretary-general was a much sought after man, and although his sympathies to the militants were an open secret, he made occasional noises about Gandhian concepts. "We are attached to a program of non-violent agitation, but I envisage a stage sooner or later when we are going to have to fight it out," he said after the elections. PART 3 Early on the morning of August 15, 1977, three unarmed constables stopped 3 boys riding bicycles at Puttur, Jaffna. Without warning, one of the boys took out a revolver and fired, injuring one of the policemen in the thigh. The cyclists escaped. The next day, police shot and killed four persons and wounded 21 others in a bloody shoot-out in Jaffna after the policemen were obstructed from seizing arms carried by some youths. JR, angry at what he thought was the audacity of the "boys", ordered the army into Jaffna, where the old market was almost totally gutted in a fire the Tamils blamed on the security forces. The 1977 anti-Tamil riots had begun. Sinhalese mobs began attacking Tamils outside the northeast. For the first time, a large number of Hindu temples came under attck during the two weeks of arson and rioting, which left more than 300 people dead and many more wounded. Thousands of Tamils left their homes and fled to the northeast for safety. They included an estimated 40,000 Indian Tamils, many of whom became destitutes overnight even though they were opposed to the Eelam campaign. Many of them went to Vavuniya in the North, where several voluntary groups helped them to begin a new life. Many were sent to Jaffna by 3 ships, as in 1958. In parliament, JR accused Amir of promoting secessionism and thundered amidst applause from his MP's: "If you want to fight, let there be a fight. If it is peace, let there be a peace. It is not what I am saying. The people of Sri Lanka say that". Amir told parliament 5 days later: "We tried our best to live in a unted Sri Lanka like brothers but failed......We are still prepared. We are trying to explore a peaceful solution". The riots provoked indignation in Tamil Nadu, which until then had remained largely indifferent to the plight of the island Tamils. The Tamil Nadu assembly expressed "rude shock" over the violence, in which some Indians had also been hit. The DMK, which only 4 years ago had handed over Kuttimani to the Sri Lankan authorities, organized a general strike and a mammoth procession that wound its way through the city to the office of the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka. But in 1977, no Sinhalese living in Jaffna came under attack from Tamils. Until Tamil militancy took deep roots in Jaffna, almost 10% of its population was Sinhalese, who were bakers, traders, civil servants and businessmen. The 1977 anti-Tamil riots were different from earlier Sinhalese onslaughts. Previously Tamils had rarely hit back in an organized way. But now the Tamil society had its "boys" who were more than willing to take revenge. On August 31, 4 young men came in blue Morris car robbed the People's Bank in Manipay and walked away with 26,000 rupees. Around that time unidentified decamped with 8 rifles and revolvers from a customers office in Jaffna. Also several cases of theft of chemicals from schools were reported in the peninsula. In september, Thangathurai presided over a meeting at a temple in Thondamanaru and decided to formally set up a militant group called the Tamil Eelam Liberation Army (TELA) and a political affiliate known as the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO). According to a participant they would function on the lines of the Irish Republican Army and its political wing, the Sinn Fein. By now, The most active militant groups in Jaffna were the one led by Thangathurai and the LTTE. In 1977, a soft spoken land surveyor, Kadirgamapillai Nallainathan, better known as Uma Maheswaran, joined the LTTE. He was made the chairman of the central committee. Prabhakaran, younger to Uma by some 10 years, continued to be teh group's military commander but remained largely in the background. The English speaking and suave Uma was referred to in the LTTE as Mukundan. In January 1978, Uma and Prabha made their way to Colombo, where the former had headed the TULF's city unit. In fact, few knew that he had quietly joined the LTTE. On the eve of the 27th, the two shot M. Canagaratnam, a Tamil MP who had won on a TULF ticket but switched alleigiance to the UNP. He was shot and wounded in the chest, neck and ribs. But died a few months later. Canagaratnam's botched murder blew up Uma's cover and he gave up the open life. The police, embarrased that Tamil militants could strike in Colombo, launched a vicious crackdown under the supervision of Inspector T.I. Bastiampillai of the CID. After rounding up several suspects in Jaffna, police issued "wanted" posters for 4 men. Uma, Chellappah Nagarajah, Thanam (who had been once driver to Chelvanayagam) and Kannadi. Little did the police know that one of the four was already dead. Chetti murdered Kannadi in cold blood at Poonagari after breaking the prison in the city of Anuradhapura 1973. |
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PART 4 In 1979, after the Thangathurai group shot dead 3 more policemen in Jaffna, JR replaced the Proscription of LTTE act with a more draconian Prevention Act (PTA), clamped a state of emergency through-out Jaffna peninsula and sent more troops to the region. |
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He also hand-picked Brigadier
T.I. Weeratunge, chief of the army, to stamp out "the menace of terrorism in
all its forms from the island" by Dec.31. The crackdown, for the first time, seriously disrupted the militant network. The mutilated bodies of 6 youths picked up from their homes on July 14 were found under a bridge. Because of this disruption, Thangathurai, Kuttimani and Prabhakaran fled to Tamil Nadu. Tamil militancy died down almost totally in 1980, but picked up again from early next year. Police repression was not the only cause for the fall in militant sponsored violence. There were growing differences within the militant ranks, particularly the LTTE which resulted in its split and the subsequent formation of PLOTE by Uma. On March 25, the TELO puled off a sensational robbery. A People's bank van was returned to Jaffna with the day's collection when it was ambushed on a lonely stretch of road at Neervely, 12 miles from Point Pedro. Kuttimani who led the operation gave rapid fire orders in Sinhala when the van came to a halt. The loot was put by a bank official at a staggering 7.8 million rupees. On April 5, he, Thangathurai and Thevan were arrested at Mannalkadal, near Point Pedro, while tried to escape in a boat to India. Sri Sabaratnam had dropped them in a car, but left before they prepared to sail away. Kuttimani had some gold on him, tried to shoot himself but was overpowered. It was the end of journey both for Kuttimani and Thangathurai, two of the original pillars of Tamil militancy. They were brutally beaten to death in Colombo's Welikade jail during the July 1983 anti-Tamil riots. Jaffna was clearly confused. It was only 5 yrs since the TULF had taken a mandate to achieve Eelam, which was no where in sight. Tamils were pondering on this and a lot more when unexpected news came from Tamil Nadu. Two men well known to Amir as well as to the Lankan authorities were involved in a gunfight. News papers identified them as Uma and Prabhakaran. |
Eelam History
CONTENTS
PART 1: JAFFNA KINGDOM
PART 2: KALINGA MAGAN
PART 3: ARIYACHACKRAVATHIS
PART 1
JAFFNA KINGDOM
In the previous chapter we looked into important milestones in chronological
order about the history of Ceylon. Let us look at them somewhat in detail from
now onwards.
We knew that Ceylon gained independence in 1948. Though Ceylon obtained
independence from the British, long before that foriegn colonial powers had
conquered the Jaffna
Kingdom comprising the North and East and the Kotte Kingdom in South West, and
the Kandyan Kingdom in the center.
Portuguese first set foot in Ceylon in 1505. At that time there were three
kingdoms in Ceylon. They were the Jaffna, Kotte and the Kandyan Kingdoms.
First the Kotte Kingdom was captured by the Portuguese. Then in stages they
brought the western territory of the Jaffna Kingdom under their control. Finally
in 1519 they enslaved the Jaffna Kingdom by defeating the last King SANKILI
Mannan in the battle field. However, the defeat of Sankili didn't mean the end
of resistence in Jaffna. Between June 1619 and February 1621, there were several
uprisings against the Portuguese. Consequently the Poortuguese lost many areas
of the Jaffna Kingdom. However, the uprisings were put down due to Portuguese
command of the sea which enabled them to bring in reinforcements from India and
Colombo.
The Portuguese ruled Jaffna with a heavy hand. Christian missionary activity
spread simultaneously with destruction of Hindu temples. In 1628 a small force
from Kandy attacked Jaffna. The Tamil people who were waiting for an opportunity
rose in revolt against the Portuguese. The Portuguese were forced to retreat
inside the Jaffna Fort. However, the combined Tamil and Sinhalese forces were
not equipped for a siege warfare. The Portuguese defeated the Tamil-Sinhalese
forces by shelling them from the Fort. After that the Portuguese gradually
regained control of the lost territory.
The Portuguese conquest of Jaffna was facilitated by several factors. Jaffna was
easily accessible by sea. There were Portuguese outposts at Mannar and on
Coromandel Coast. By the second half of the 16th centure the Jaffna Kingdom had
lost much of its power due to rivalry for the throne. Though the Jaffna King
sought the help of Raguantha Nayakkan who ruled Madurai it did not materialize.
Above all the Portuguese used Sinhalese mercenary troops to defend the Jaffna
Kingdom.
It should be observed that although the Portuguese landed in Ceylon in 1505 it
took them another 115 years to conquer the Jaffna Kingdom.
The Kotte Kingdom came under complete control of the Portuguese in 1597. The
Kandyan Kingdom was ceded to the British in 1815.
Sankili Mannan was captured by the Portuguese and taken to Goa,India where he
was hanged.
Though the Jaffna Kingdom fell, the areas to the south called Vanni did not
accept the rule of the Portuguese. It did not pay tribute to the Kandyan Kingdom
or to any other Kingdom. It functioned as an autonomous entity. However, the
three Vanniamai in the East(then Tamil Eezam) viz Kodiyaram Vannimai, Palugamam
Vannimai and Pannamai Vannimai sought the help of the Kandyan Kingdom for their
defense, but they still functioned as autonomous regions.
Although at different times the territory of Eezam came under foreign rule, it
never lost its Tamil identity. Even its borders remained intact till 1833.
The Jaffna Kingdom existed with Nallur as its capital from 1215 AD 1619 AD. The
following are the names of the Kings and their period of rule of Tamileezam:-
1. Kalingaman alias Koolangai Singai Aryan alias Kalinga Vijeyabahu(1215-1240)
2. Kulasegara Pararajasegaram(1240-1256)
3. Kulothungan(1256-1279)
4. Vikramnan(1279-1302)
5. Varothayan(1371-1380)
6. Marthanda Perumalan(1325-1348)
7. Kunapooshanan(1348-1371)
8. Virothayan(1371-1380)
9. Jeyaveeran(1380-1410)
10. Kunaveeran(1410-1446)
11. Kanagasooriyan(1446-1450). From 1450 to 1467 Jaffna Kingdom came under the
rule of Kotte Kingdom. Troops which came under the command of Chenpagap Perumal
captured Jaffna. Later he become King of Kotte under the name of King
Bhuvanekababu(V1). Kanagasooriyan fled to Tamilnadu and came back with an army
and re-captured the Kingdom and again ruled from 1467-1478.
12. Pararajasegaran(1478-1519)
13. Sankili Segarajasegaran(1519-1561). He was born to the third wife of
Pararajasegaran.
14. Pararasa Pandaram, Pararasasekaran(1561-1565). He is son of Sankili.
15. Kurunchi Nainar(1565-1570)
16. Periapillai Sekarasa Sekaran(1570-1582)
17. Puvirasa Pandaram 11(1582-1591)
18. Ethirmanna Singa Pararasasekaran(1591-1615)
19. Sankili Kumaran(1615-1619)
In all Jaffna Kingdom existed for 403 years.
PART 2
Kalinga Magan
We learnt about the arrival of the Portuguese and the capture of the Jaffna
Kingdom in 1619. Also we learnt that the Jaffna Kingdom existed for 403 years
and the names of the 19 kings who ruled during the same period. For over 200
years the Jaffna Kingdom remained the single most powerful Kingdom in Ceylon.
The Jaffna Kings maintained close relationship with South Indian Kingdoms and
later with the Portuguese. This we can glean from Sinhala historical books, some
Sinhala inscriptions and through Sinhala literary works like Kokila Sandesiya,
Paravi Sandesiya, Parakum Paciritha.
From the beginning of the 16th century we can learn the history of the rules of
Jaffna lucidly and someway in detail from Portuguese sources.
There are some Tamil books, if not in great detail, but at least to some extent,
that gives the history of the origin, rise and growth of the Jaffna Kingdom and
the history of its rulers. One such book is the Yalpana Vaipavamalai. Others are
the Vaiyapadal,Kailayamalai,Rajamurai and Pararahasegaran Ula.
The Yalpana Vaipavamalai was written by Mylvagana Pulavar from Methagal in the
eighteenth century. From the forward to the book it can be understood that this
book was written at the request of the Dutch authorities and the author based
his written on books like Vaiyapandal, Kailayamalai, Rajamurai and
Pararajasegaran Ula. Both Rajamurai and Pararajasegaran Ula are now extinct.
Vaiyapandal was written by Vaiyapuri Aiyar during the reign of King
Segarajesekeran. This book describes events commencing from the first ruler of
Jaffna. It also describes the names of the chieftains and social group and how
they came from Tamilnadu and settled in Jaffna and Vanni. Like other Tamil works
Vaijapandal also doesnot give the events in chronological order.
In the 13th century(1215 AD)following the invasion of Kalingamagan(1215-1255
AD)the Polonaruwa Kingdom which was already in a state of decay declined in
power. Magan ruled with Polonaruwa as his capital. He was then the most powerful
monarch in Ceylon. After the fall of Polonaruwa the Sinhalese Kings shifted
their capitals to Dembedeniya and Yapahuwa. The Vanni King Vijayababhu 111
captured Mayarata and ruled with Dembedeniya as his capital.
His son Parakramabahu 11(1236-1270 AD)captured the hill areas and the wouthwest
and strenghthened his rule. He, like his father, entertained the ambition to
capture Rajarata again and bring it under his rule. A number of Vanni chieftains
are said to have been persuaded to shift their allegiance from Magan to
Parakramabahu.
Following the fall of Polonaruwa there arose several minor kingdoms called
Vanniars. Those areas ruled by these minor kings under the name of Vanniers were
called Vannipattu or Vanni. Since some of the worriors consisted of Vanniars,
the appearance of Vanniyars must have occured during the Polonaruwa period.
The ancient Batticalo chronicle states that Magan captured Polonaruwa and then
gave military control to the Vanniars.
The Konesar inscription states that Kulakoddan appointed Vanniars as rulers of
Trincomalee. Nilavel,Kaddukkulam areas. Kulakoddan's real name was Cholkathevan.
The Chulavamsa and other chronicles say that Magan stationed troops at places
like Trincomalee, Koddiyara,Kantalai,Padavia,Kaddukkulam,Kytes,Pulachery and
ruled Rajarata from his capital Polonaruwa. Polonaruwa captured and ruled by
Magan was later over-run by the Javanese.
PART 3
Ariyachackaravathis...
The King of Java by the name Chandrabanu twice invaded Ceylon from Malaya. On
both occasions his invasion ended in failure. Later he raised an army from Chola
Nadu and Pandiya Nadu and captured territory in North Ceylon ruled by Magan.
After consolidating his position he again attacked the Dambedeniya Kingdom ruled
by Parakramanahu 11. Chandrabanu demanded the surrender of Buddha's tooth relic
and the kingship to him failing which he informed Parakrambahu 11 to be ready
for war.
According to Chulavamsa Parakramabahu 11 refused to accede to the demands made
by Chandrabanu and was successful in halting the invading Army which had
penatrated upto Yapahuva and completely freeing him self from
his(Chandrabanu)domination. Yet Chandrabanu's rule covered the Jaffna Peninsula,
Vanni in the North and Trincomalee.
The place names such as Chavakachcheri,Chavankoddai and Chavakkoddai came into
existence as a result of the rule of Chavakas in the 13th century.
Around this time the Pandian empire under the rule of Maravarman Sunderapandyan
became very powerful. During his reign the domination of the Kingdom in North
Ceylon by Pandias was further strengthened.
When Chandrabanu refused to pay tribute to the Indian empire,Maravarman
Suderapandian defeated Chandrabanu and brought his Kingdom under his domain.
Among those chieftains who were left behind by the Pandias to rule over Jaffna
one Pandimalavan emerged very powerful. After Chandrabanu, his son accepted the
suzerainty of the Pandias and ruled for some time. After him, it is claimed that
when there was no successor to throne Pandimalavan who hailed from the village
of Ponpatti went to Madurai and brought Prince Singairiyan and crowned him King
of Jaffna. The rule by Ariyachakravarthis were established in Jaffna as a sequel
to invasion of Ceylon by Pandias under the leadership of Army general
Ariyachackravarthi about AD.1284.
According to inscriptions, during the rule of Maravarman Kulasegaran(AD
1268-1310), Ariyachackravarthis served both as army generals and ministers under
him.
According to the astrological book Segarahasekeramalai the ancestors of Jaffna
Kings served as army generals and ministers under Pandias. They are said to be
Brahmins who belonged to Kasiyappa ancestry and descendants of five-hundred and
twelve "Panchagrama Vethiayar" of Ramesvaram temple.
The Aryachackravarthis are not in fact Aryans in the ethnic sense, but they
referred to themselved as such because of matrimonial relationship established
with brahmins in Rameshvaram.
The Chulavamsam referring to the invasion of Pandias following the death of
Bhuvanakabhu 1(AD 1272-1281)states that Pandian Kings despatched troops under
the command of a Tamil army general. Although he was not an Aryan he was
considered both popular and influential. Further it states that the invading
force destroyed the fortified city of Yapahuva and carried away the Bhuda's
Tooth relic and other priceless valuables.
Consequent to the invasion by Pandias under the command of Aryachcharkaravathi
the Sinhalese Kingdom got further weakened. Yapahuva lost its status as capital
city. Also there was infighting for the throne between Bhuvanakabahu 11(son of
Bhuvanakabahu1), and Parakramabahu111(son of Vijayabahu 1V,AD 1271-1272)As a
result the Sinhalese Kingdom got divided. Bhuvanakabahu made Kurunagala his
capital and ruled from there. Parakramabahu 111 went to Madurai and retrieved
the Tooth Relic that was taken away by the Pandian King and installed same at
Polonaruwa where he established his rule.
The Ariyachakravarthi mentioned by Chulavamsam or some other descendant of him
must have by passage of time crowned himself King of Jaffna. The name
Ariyachakravarthi does not refer to real name but one denoting ancestry.
Tamils In The World
HISTORY OF
MAURITIUS TAMILS
Mauritius is a small island lost in the Indian ocean. It is aproximately 550
miles to the east of Madagascar. It is 31 miles long and 28 miles broad and has
an area of 720 sq.miles.
It was discovered in 1507 by Portuguese, who gave the name as Cirne. When the
Portuguese abandoned it, the Dutch came and settled here in 1598. They too
finally abandoned it in 1710, then French took possession of it in 1715 and gave
a name as Ile de France. It was under their administration that the country
began to develop.
The French governor Labourdonnais introduced from India, sugar cane, which is
now the main crop. He also brought from Pondichery a number of artisans,
especially joiners and masons, to teach the crafts to the Mauritians, who were
then mainly slaves from Africa. Fine pieces of furniture made by those Indian
crafsmen still exist. Some of which are on exhibition at the Naval Museum at
Mahebourg.
In 1810, the English took the Island after a fierce naval battle. In this battle
a good many Tamil soldiers fought with the English. Ever since then the Island
has been a British colony.
It appears that during the French occupation, there was a considerable number of
Tamils here and that they played an important role in the economic life of the
country. This is evident from the fact that one or two French newspapers of the
time published in Tamil, accounts of important events and advertisements,
especially auction sales. We infer from the above that among those Tamils, there
were many traders and well-to-do people.
After 1810, other traders came from South India, many of whom settled here. As
they came single, many of them had concubines of African origin or among the
French-African hybrids. A good percentage of the present creole population are
composed of the descendants of those Tamils.
IMMIGRATION
After the abolition of slavery in 1834, the emancipated slaves refused to work
on the sugar plantations of their erstwhile masters. The sugar industry was,
therefore, faced with a serious labor problem which threatened the very
existence of the industry. The estate owners, all of French descent, viewed the
situation with grave concern and looked up to India for help. India agreed to
send her sons here to save the country from ruin. Indentured labourers soon
arrived, who not only averted the catastrophe, but also proved to be the
architects of their master's rapid prosperity. For this signal service. The
reward they received from those masters was the most cruel treatment. The poor
Indians had no one to take up their defence.
It was at that critical time that a Pole, by name DePlevitz, feeling for the
defenceless Indians, started an agitation in their favor. Of course, the white
estate owners presented it and subjected DePlevitz to severe ill-treatment.
DePlevitz addressed a petition to the governor on behalf of Indians, but as he
hardly knew English, the petition was drafted, both in English and Tamil by one
Rajarethinum Modeliar.
As the first batch of the immigrants came from the Malabar coast, the Indians,
in general, came to be called malabars, as they still are in the neighbouring
French island of Reunion(formerly Bourbon). As the labourer's work, though the
noblest, in foolishly considered humble, the appellation came to acquire a
pejorative meaning. The Indians resented it so much that it had in course of
time to be given up.
According to statistics, the first batch of Indian labourers arrived in 1835,
but in fact, a batch of 1 100 coolies had been introduced six years before, in
1829. We already said that the Indian labourers were subjected to harsh
treatment by their white masters, DePlevitz's campaign, though it did some good,
did not migrate to an appreciable degree the sufferings of those useful workers.
In 1901 Mahatma Gandhi visited to Mauritius. His heart bled at the sight of so
much misery and he thought that someone should be sent over, from India to help
those defenceless creatures. He could not find a suitable man immediately, but
in 1907, he came across a young and dynamic barrister, Manilall Dcotor, who was
willing to undertake that hard job. By his intelligence and courage, and upheld
by his genuine love for his humble and oppressed brothers. He succeeded after
several years of hard work, in remedying most of the ills which had so long
prevailed.
When Mahatma Ganadhi visited the Island in 1901, the only two advanced Indian
communities were the Tamil and the Muslim communities. It was the prominent
members of these two communities who entertained him. When Manilall Doctor came
in 1907, he found all his helpers and friends in the Tamil community only. The
calcutees or bihari communities had not yet started its evolution. They were all
laboureres on the sugar estates.
In the early days, when oppression was at its highest point, those who dared put
up a fight were Tamilians. The greatest among them was no doubt Mr.Sinnatambou.
He was a wealthy man and could have greatly profited by courting the whites, but
there was in him such nobility of character that he would sooner have given up
all his wealth than let down his suffering brothers. Among the many things
achieved by him, let us quote the following:
In those days, the Indian immigrants had no right to travel from any one place
to any other without a "pass" about them.
Sinnatambou had a temple built at Terre Rouge. Though it is now over a century
since that temple was built. It is still called after him "I'eglise Sinnatambou".
On the consecration day, Indian labourers came from all parts of the Island to
attend the sacred function. While the puja was going on, the police burst into
the temple and arrested those who were not in possession of their "passes".
Sinnathambou petitioned the governor, complaining of the outrageous conduct of
the police and asking that it should be provided in the law that temples should
be respected. The governor, finding that the Indians' grievance was grounded,
issued orders that thenceforward the police should not enter any temple to
arrest people. To complain of the police in those days was an act of daring
especially for an Indian. Only a man of the calibre of Sinnatambou could be that
bold.
Before 1834, came to Mauritius Dr.Malayappen Sinnappilay. Though he was of an
Indian university, he was at first allowed to practice without any restriction,
but after some time, he was asked to restrict his practice to the Indian
community. Of all the Indian immigrants, the Tamils were the most cultured. They
knew their language, some of them being scholars in it. Many had a knowledge of
English too, and many others were well versed in their literature and music.
This is borne out by the fact that they were great amateurs of drama. They
staged, generally under a pandul, such plays as Harischandra, Damayanti,
Savitri,Markandeya, Nallatangal, Nandanar, and excerpts from the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata.
There were among them great musicians, perfectly familiar with the intricacies
of carnatic music. Those Tamils were very religous. They built temples
everywhere, so that to-day, though the Tamil population is smaller than the
culcutees population, Tamil temples greatly outnumber those of the culcutees,
which are of recent times, the oldest being about 50 years old, while several
Tamil temples are over a century old; for example, the beautiful temple at
Clementia, which was built in 1856.
Those Tamil immigrants were greatly appreciated workers. They were not only
laborious, but also intelligent. It is to their credit that a commission of
enquiry appointed in 1845 stated in its report that of all the Indian labourers,
the TAMILS were the best workers. No wonder, then that they were better
considered and given jobs where diligence, trustworthiness, and intelligence
were needed, such as: sirdar, messenger, coach-man, broilers...etc.
There is two newspapers, edited in English,French and Tamil. One of them, Tamil
Voice is doing good work in the field of language and culture. It has already
published a Tamil course thru French and has been, almost from the start,
publishing a series of articles on Tamil culture. It is becoming more and more
popular. It is hoped that the Tamil community will move from progress and that,
in the years to come, it will play an important part in making Mauritius
prosperous and great.
Scientists
PATHS OF
INNOVATORS: The greatest Tamil mathematician
SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN (1887-1920)
RAMANUJAN was born on December 22, 1887, in Erode (Tamil Nadu)as the eldest son
in a family of six children.He entered in November 1897, the Town High School at
Kumbakonam as a half-fee scholarship holder and passed the
Matriculation examination in 1904. In the school, he came
something of a minor celebrity, walking off with merit certificates and prizes
for academic brilliance. This school nourished him for six years, bringing him
as close as he would ever come to a satisfying academic experience. When he was
in seventh standard he gave clear evidence of his mathematical gifts: he could
reel off the square root of a natural number to the specified number of places;
he could point to the indeterminate nature of zero divided by
zero.Ramanujan's mother - the family being close to penury, took in college
students as boarders: noticing Ramanujan's interest in mathematics, they brought
him textbooks from the
college library; Loney's `Trigonometry' was one such treasure, which he
mastered.
Ramanujan came to understand trigonometric functions not merely as the ratios of
the sides in a right-angle triangle but as concepts involving infinite series.
He would rattle off the values of transcendental numbers such as `pi' and `e',
to any number of decimal places. Classmates,two years' his senior, would seek
his assistance with problems they thought difficult, only to watch him solve
them at a glance.
Similarly, Carr's ``Synopsis'' came into his hands through his friends, before
he joined the Government College which had earned the moniker ``the Cambridge of
South India''. In
essence, the book was a compilation of about 5000 equations in algebra,
calculus,trigonometry and analytical geometry with abridged demonstrations of
the propositions. ``The book is not in any sense a great one'' some
mathematician remarked later, ``but Ramanujan has made it famous.'' Working on
this book gave him hours of delight, verification of the formulae, justification
and finally entry into mathematical thought.
Formal Education
With the high standing in school record, he joined in 1904 the F.A. Course. He
failed in English Composition and lost his scholarship. He could not bear to
witness the grinding
poverty of his parents, yet he did not give up his passion for mathematics.
Unable to endure the situation, in August 1905, he ran away from home. It was
the first of numerous such occasions, about which little became known. On July
14, 1909 Ramanujan married Janaki,then nine years of age.Ramanujan joined
Pachaiyappa's College in Madras in the F.A. class again. He could take the
three-hour mathematics paper and finish it in thirty minutes, which got him
nowhere.
In December 1906 he appeared for the F.A. examination and failed. The following
year, he took it again and failed. This marked the end of his formal education.
``In proving one formula, as he worked through Carr's synopsis, he discovered
many others,and he began the practice of compiling a notebook'', wrote E. H.
Neville, an English mathematician who later befriended Ramanujan. Such was the
likely genesis of his notebooks, which won him and immortal place along with
Euler, Gauss and Jacobi.
In the mid seventeenth century, series approximinations were used to evaluate
``pi''. Many rested on modular equations going back to the work of Legendre in
1825. Leibniz's series though looking lovely, demanded no fewer than 500 terms
to converge to pi, but yielded only three-decimal place accuracy. In one of
Ramanujan's series, the very first term gave pi to eight places. Many years
later, this would provide the basis for the fastest known computer
algorithm to determine pi.
The turning point
During 1906-1912, Ramanujan was constantly in search of a benefactor, to earn
his livelihood. With his ``Notebooks'' as his only recommendation, he sought the
patronage of V.Ramaswamy Iyer, the founder of Indian Mathematical Society who
was at Salem and asked for a clerical job in his office. The former had no mind
to smoothen Ramanujan's genius and sent him back to Madras with a letter of
introduction to P.V. Seshu Aiyar, then at the Presidency College, Madras. He
gave in turn, Ramanujan a letter of recommendation to that true lover of
mathematics, R. Ramachandra Rao, then District Collector, Nellore. This was
the turning point in his life.
Ramachandra Rao took a few days to study the Notebooks. The latter enjoyed being
led ``step-by-step to elliptic integrals and hypergeomatric series and at last
to his theory of divergent series, not yet announced to the world''.
To enable Ramanujan continue his mathematical work, he gave regular financial
support for an year; then Ramanujan joined on March 1, 1912 as a clerk in the
Madras Port Trust, with the (4) help of the manager S. Narayana Iyer, himself a
good mathematician. He held this post for 14 months; during his period his wife
joined him.
Ramanujan's work attracted the attention of prominent Englishmen at Madras -
Francis Spring (Chairman, Madras Port Trust), Gilbert Walker (Director General
of Observatories),Littlehails and three well-known mathematicians at Cambridge.
On the advice of P. V. Seshu Aiyar, Ramanujan communicated his theorems on
divergent series in a historic letter dated January 16, 1913 to G. H. Hardy who
was ten years senior to
Ramanujan. With the personal interest of Gilbert Walker and support given by the
Indian stalwarts mentioned earlier, the University of Madras awarded its first
research scholarship to Ramanujan to study in Cambridge. In quick succession,
Ramanujan received in the next three months four long letters from Hardy, who
had already spring into action, adhering the India Office of his wish to bring
him to Cambridge.
Ramanujan left Madras by S.S. Nevasa on March 17, 1914 and arrived in Cambridge
on April 18, 1914. Hardy arranged to argument his $ 250 a year scholarship with
the award of an exhibition scholarship $ 60 a year.
J. R. Newman, the historian, wrote (1968) ``Ramanujan arrived in England abreast
and often ahead of contemporary mathematical knowledge. Thus, in a lone mighty
sweep, he had
succeeded in recreating in his field, through his own unaided powers, a rich
half century of European mathematics. One may doubt whether so prodigious a feat
had ever been accomplished in the history of thought''.
Being a strict vegetarian, he had difficulty in getting proper nourishment.
Neville, who witnessed his adjustment up close, wrote ``He felt the petty
miseries of life in a strange civilization, the vegetables that were
unpalatable..., But he was a happy man, reveling in the
mathematical society and idolized by the Indian students.'' In the old town of
Cambridge,Ramanujan had found a kind of ``intellectual nirvana'' (Robert Kanigel:
The man who knew
infinity``, Little, Brown & Co Ltd., London,1991).Ramanujan attended a few
lectures. One morning, Mr. A. Berry stood at the blackboard working out some
formulae and at one point
saw Ramanujan's face glowed with excitement, Berry interrupted to ask him
whether he was following the lecture. At this Ramanujan went to the blackboard
and, much to everyone's surprise, wrote down some of the results which were yet
to be proved. W. N. Bailey, who attended with Ramanujan a course of lectures by
Hardy, recalled ''I remember that when Hardy wanted the value of an integral he
turned to my colleague and asked him for the value;and Ramanujan immediately
supplied him with the answer... He certainly had a great effect on my own work;
if Ramanujan had not lived, I should not now be the new Professor of
Mathematics.
The first three years of his stay, April 1914 to April 1917, despite his strict
vegetarian diet,was most productive. He published 21 research papers containing
theorems on definite integrals, modular equations, Riemann's Zeta function,
infinite series, number theory, modular functions, partitions and combinatorial
analysis. His paper ``Highly Composite numbers''containing 269 equations was
published in the Journal of the London Mathematical Society,1915. For this work
he was awarded in March 1916 the B.A. degree: the domiciliary requirement of six
terms was relaxed by the Trinity College. He was elected a College Fellow in
1917, and F.R.S. in 1918. From the spring of 1917, when the first signs of
illness appeared, he was in and out of nursing homes until his departure home in
March 1919.
Ramanujan arrived in Madras on April 2, emaciated and very sick. His wife nursed
him till his untimely death on April 26, 1920. To mark his 75th birthday a
commemorative stamp was brought out by the Govt. of India. The only Ramanujan
Museum in the country, founded by Mr. P. K. Srinivasan, a mathematics teacher,
operates from March 1993 in the Avvai Academy, Royapuram, Madras.
His notebooks
Ramanujan's life-long habit had been to work on a slate and transfer the final
results to the notebooks. Between 1903 and 1914 he had already three notebooks
which he took to
Cambridge. Hardy recalled that Ramanujan was showing him half a dozen new
results every day during 1914-19. He started with one book and left it to G. N.
Watson to take up the job of editing the notebooks with B. M. Wilson; but the
project did not materialise for over six decades after the death of Ramanujan
(1920). In 1957, at the instance of Homi Bhabha and K. Chandrasekaran, the Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research published a facsimile edition of the notebooks
in two volumes. These notebooks have formed the basis for numerous papers by
many mathematicians all over the world.
The stupendous efforts of Bruce C. Berndt who spent over two decades to study
each and everyone of the 3,254 entries in the Notebooks resulted in the
monumental five-volume
publication during 1985-1997.
Correction:
In the article on Paul Erdos (1903-1996) published in these columns on April
1,it was Selbery (his collaborator) who received the Fields Medal for the Prime
Number Theorem and not Erdos as stated.
Hinduism
|
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO A
COMPLEX RELIGION Hinduism is also known as "Sanatana Dharma" to Hindus. In Sanskrit, the original language of India, 'Sanatana' means Everlasting and 'Dharma', by a crude translation, means Religion. The Everlasting Religion, Hinduism was founded, exists and flourishes in India. At this point, let me make a very important observation. Hinduism is probably known to most people outside India as a religion. The truth is - it is both a religion and a way of life. India gave to the world the original, oldest and most profound philosophy of life. The brilliant ancestors of present-day indians explored the truth behind our existence and defined multiple philosophies and theories that explained this truth. However, they also created a set of rules for "good living" on this earth. The philosophical concepts that Indians gave to mankind are eternal and constitute no religion by themselves. However, the rules for good or "Dharmic" living that they laid down constitute the Hindu religion. Most people mistake the term "Hinduism" to mean both the religious doctrines and the philosophical treatises. This article will refer to "Hinduism" for both the philosophy and the religion, for purposes of simplicity. The philosophy of the Hindus is called "Sanatana Dharma". Sanatana means eternal and Dharma means truth/religion/rule (depending on how you look at it). The message of Sanatana dharma (Hinduism) is perennial and will never become outdated with time. This religion does not have a starting point in history and the sages who shaped it merely reiterated the teachings of the Vedas (Hindu scriptures). The Vedas are believed to have no origin. The Mother of All Alphabets The symbol at the top of this page is an Alphabet in the Sanskrit language and is the most important symbol in the Hindu religion. In a sense, it could be compared with the Cross of the Christians and the Crescent of the Moslems. It is pronounced - OM - and signifies God Almighty. Om means "That which hath No Beginning nor End". The chanting of Om and meditation on the symbol are believed to bring all-round health,prosperity, and immortality to the spiritual aspirant. Important Concepts and Misconceptions The Religion The Almighty Sruti, the unwritten portion of the Vedas tells us this about the Almighty - "OM Poornamadah Poornamidam Poornaad Poornamudachyate; Poornasya Poornamaadaaya Poornamevaavashisyate". Translated, this verse means "What is Whole - This is Whole - What has come out of the Whole is also Whole; When the Whole is taken out of the Whole, the Whole still remains Whole". The purport is that the Infinite cannot be measured arithmetically. How can you divide or subtract from the Infinite? But you can definitely represent the Infinite in different ways. The Infinite also manifests in billions of ways. Detractors of the religion mock at the practice of worshipping multiple Gods and brand the religion polytheistic. The truth is - Hinduism is monotheistic. Sanatana Dharma believes in One Supreme God, the Almighty. Hinduism believes not only in One God, but also in His Supreme Personality. This personality of the Supreme Being is manifested in different forms around us and within us perpetually. To contemplate on the real Supreme Being therefore, man would have to absorb all these infinite manifestations (which are continually taking place without a starting point nor an end) with his finite or limited capabilities. Clearly, this is not possible. It is impossible for the finite man to contemplate the infinite aspects of the Supreme Personality. We all observe the unending processes of birth, existence and death, which seem to be continually taking place around us through every moment of our lives. We constantly witness these processes and are yet ignorant of them, living as we do in the comfort of our illusory lives. The seers of ancient Hinduism realized the truth behind these activities. They gave form and shape to the truth beginning with the Hindu Trinity - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma creates, Vishnu sustains, and Shiva destroys or consumates everything in the universe. Lord Vishnu is accompanied by His consort Lakshmi, who is the fountainhead of prosperity. Lord Shiva's consort is Uma, who is the symbol of strength and courage. Lord Brahma's consort, Vidya is the seat of all knowledge and learning. The above explanations should make obvious the fallacy in the argument of fools that Hinduism worships multiple Gods. It should be clear from the above that Hinduism worships multiple forms of the one God. Such worship is truly a tribute to His greatness. That the Supreme can be worshipped in any form is a unique concept in Hinduism. Different sects worship different deities of their choice as personifications of the Supreme One. At the same time, Hindu scriptures also recommend the practice of meditation on the formless aspect of God. Idol Worship Another common argument against Hinduism is that it worships idols. The argument is ridiculous. Hinduism does not worship idols, but worships God in the form of an idol. This is done to facilitate contemplation of the Infinite with our finite capabilities. To quote none other than the great intellectual, Swami Vivekananda on this matter - "If a person wants to drink milk, he uses a cup as he cannot drink it directly. For the quivering and unsteady mind, there should be a visible form or a symbol, the idol, so that it becomes a foundation for his adoration. It helps to maintain the continuity of one's devotional exercises. The idol form of God is akin to a vessel which enables a man to drink the milk. Through the instrumentality of an idol, a devotee comprehends divinity. The divine incantations ('Mantras' in Sanskrit) uttered during the worship of consecrated idols transform man into a centre of spiritual power." Reverence for Cow Cow slaughter is sacrilege in the religion. The cow is revered as a mother to all mankind because of the nourishing milk she provides. A mother feeds her child without expecting anything in return. Similarly, the cow provides us with life-giving milk without any expectation. Hence, the religion compares the slaughter of a cow to the murder of one's own mother. Indian society was largely agrarian and depended on the cow for a living. Indians also realized the potential of cow dung for several practical purposes - it is used as a fertilizer and as a disinfectant, for example. All these and several other reasons prompt Hindus to treat the cow reverentially as opposed to sending it to the butcher. Are Hindus vegetarians? Another popular misconception is that all Hindus are vegetarians and Hinduism prohibits meat eating. Lord Rama Himself, an incarnation of God, consumed meat as he was a King (Kshatriya). The scriptures say that every human being should pursue his or her own dharma perfectly instead of following another's dharma imperfectly. A Kshatriya's dharma is to defend the nation and his people against enemies. A vegetarian cannot do so for lack of physical prowess. At the same time, a Brahmin's duty is to master the scriptures and realize the Supreme. He should refrain from eating meat and eat simple food to maintain equanimity. Hence, a Hindu could be a pure vegetarian who consumes only vegetable forms or he could be a meat eater. At the same time, a meat-eating Hindu would never kill a cow. Also, the religion prohibits the killing of animals for any purpose other than to eat. In the words of one great Indian saint, "Killing is sinful, but eating washes the sin away". The Caste System of the Hindus Hindu society was divided into castes based on occupation. The four castes of the Hindus are - the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. The division on the lines of occupation established the Brahmins as the priests, the Kshatriyas as the warriors, the Vaishyas as the merchants, and the Shudras as the laborers. This division probably does not hold true any more. In modern, westernized Indian society there is probably only one occupation - making money. Traditionally, people are born into a caste. However, the scriptures have a different opinion. Sage Parashurama was born into a Brahmin family, but is reverred as one of the mightiest warriors (a Kshatriya) ever known. Sage Valmiki was born in a hunter tribe(Shudra), but he became the first greatest sage (Brahmin) of Hinduism besides Sage Vyasa. Sage Vishwamitra was a king (Kshatriya) who became one of the most respected sages (Brahmin). Hence, a man's caste in the religion is dictated by his deeds and his merits, not his birth. The Importance of Devotion to God in Hinduism - Bhakti Yoga The Gita presents Devotion as one of the several ways to achieve Moksha. In fact, devotion to God in any form that the devotee conceives of is one of the four Yogas - the Bhakti Yoga. This idea is expressed clearly by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, ``Whosoever offers to Me with love a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water, I appear in person before that devotee of sinless mind and delightfully partake of that article offered by him with love. Arjuna, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as a gift, whatever you do by way of penance, offer it all to Me.'' The service rendered by Guha, a character in Ramayana, to Rama endears him to the Lord so much that while taking leave of him, Rama says to His brother Lakshmana that He considers Guha His own brother. It is a devotee like Guha that the Lord has in mind when He says in the Gita, ``To those devotees who worship Me, thinking of none else, who devote their mind to Me and are ever perseverent in My service and in My contemplation, I confer that permanent heavenly abode from which there is no return to life.'' Such devotion can be towards any form of the Almighty. A Ram devotee will not count a minute without thinking of Him and the Divine Mother. A Shiv devotee will spend his time eulogizing His "Lingam". If looked at more analytically, in fact, the other Yogas also become an extension of Bhakti Yoga. A Karma Yogi immersed in the service of the poor and destute sees God in them and hence cannot bear separation from them. The Philosophy Relationship between Time and the Almighty The entire cosmos is subject to the vicissitudes of time and hence whatever has an origin at a point of time has to come to an end. According to Hinduism, all the worlds, including the heavenly realm of the creator (Brahma), are conditioned by time. The process of creation (Srishti) and dissolution (Pralaya) of the universe is a periodic cycle in which the entire cosmos becomes manifest at the time of creation and is withdrawn at the time of dissolution. The Almighty alone is beyond time - beginningless and endless. According to Hindu philosophy, the cosmos is created and destroyed in cycles of time. These cycles consist of "MahaYugas", each of which consists of four yugas. The four yugas are - Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dvapara yuga, and Kali yuga - in that order. Together, they form a "Mahayuga". One day of Brahma (a Cosmic day) consists of 1000 Mahayugas as also does one Cosmic night. The Satya yuga lasts 1.7 million earthly years. The Treta yuga lasts 1.3 million earthly years. The Dwapara yuga lasts 0.9 million earthly years and the Kali yuga lasts 0.4 million years. We are currently in the Kali yuga. Therefore, one Mahayuga equals 4.3 million earthly years. 1000 mahayugas (1 Cosmic day) = 4.3 billion earthly years. All embodied beings come into existence from the unmanifest condition at the beginning of each cosmic day and merge into the subtle body of the creator during the cosmic nightfall. The bonded soul is reborn countless times during one such cosmic day. Brahma (the Cosmos) lives for 100 Cosmic years, where 1 C.year = 12 C. months; 1 C. month = 30 C. days + 30 C. nights; 1 C. day/night = 4.3 billion earthly years by the above calculation. Therefore, Brahma's life equals a fantastic 311 trillion and 40 billion earthly years. At the end of Brahma's life, another new Brahma is born who lives another 100 C. years. This process goes on endlessly as countless Brahmas die and resurface. This endless cycle of births and rebirths that all "souls" experience, whether it is during one cosmic day or during one Brahma's life is called "Transmigration". All souls are cursed to experience transmigration, except the one Absolute Truth, which is beyond creation or destruction. This Absolute Truth is God. A good analogy to transmigration of the soul is of a person retiring to sleep who wakes up the next morning in the same place. During sleep, the person is unaware of what happens to him. Similarly, the transmigrating soul at birth does not remember its state prior to coming into existence. So, death is also nothing but return to the same state from which one has come to this world. There is a way to transcend this process of transmigration, to which all created beings are subject. This is again presented in different ways by different philosophers of the religion. Adi Shankara believes that we are indeed the Absolute Truth, but that the illusion of our worldly lives prevents us from realizing this Truth. Others believe that we are "bonded souls" that merge with the Truth once we achieve the Truth. A discussion of these concepts follows later. In brief, however, this transcendental state that we should all strive for is called "Moksha" in Hindu philosophy and "Nirvana" in Buddhist. Beyond even this unmanifest subtle state before creation is yet another unmanifest existence, the Ultimate Reality, which does not perish even though all beings are subject to decay. This unmanifest is spoken of as the indestructible, the Supreme Being, who is the goal to be attained, after which there is no more return to the mortal world. The methods by which this goal can be attained have also been elaborated in the Bhagavad Gita (Bible of the Hindus). More on the topic of transmigration and "karma" follows below. Karma Hinduism believes in transmigration of the soul. Such transmigration is what results in reincarnation. This, in short, is the popular theory of Karma. Clearly, all forms of life on earth do not undergo the same experiences and are not at one level of existence. Man is the most superior form of life, but there are also billions of life forms which are far less superior than him. Even among us humans, we constantly witness differences in our modes of existence. Some of us are billionaires and some are paupers. Some of us are extremely healthy and some are always disease-prone. Some of us are drawn towards matters of the spirit, while others are totally hedonistic and indifferent to God and religion. Some religions preach love and compassion, while some others preach violence and slaughter. There must be a reason for these different experiences that all forms of life go through, even within their own species. Hinduism's answer to this question is the theory of "Karma". Karma and rebirth are interrelated concepts unique to the orthodox systems of Indian philosophy. Without these concepts, there cannot be a convincing explanation for the differences we perceive among life forms in the world. According to the theory of Karma, we are all part of a cycle of births and rebirths. This cycle has no beginning nor end. We are simply experiencing the results of our own actions in our journey through this cycle. Each spoke in the cycle is a predecessor to the next spoke. When a cycle moves, all spokes move one after the other in a never-ending chain. Similarly, in the cycle of "Samsara", life forms are spokes that evolve from one experience to another, and from one form to another according to their actions. At this point, it will be useful to support Shankaracharya's argument against atheistic Buddhist philosophy. In a cycle, can the sum effect of the actions of all the spokes make the cycle move? Clearly, the answer is no. The answer is that an external force has to act upon the pedal, which acts upon the chain, which in turn moves the spokes making the cycle move. The sum effect of all karmic actions of life forms alone cannot be the reason for the never-ending samsara. There are so many non-life forms too in this universe. It is therefore the Supreme Atman which creates, sustains, and destroys all entities in order to run this cycle. Coming back to individual actions, our actions are bound by the theory of Karma. The actions are themselves binding, and such bondage-causing action is known as "Karma". The bondage refers to the confinement to this samsara just as spokes are confined to the wheel of the cycle. Yogis are free of karmic actions and are therefore not bound by the cycle of transmigration. Such a state of everlasting freedom from samsara is known as "Moksha" or "Nirvana". 'Vedanta' - 'Dwaita', 'Adwaita', and 'Vishishtadwaita' 'Vedanta' refers to the philosophy of the Hindus. It encompasses all of the intellectual wealth of the vedas, both the 'Sruti' and the 'Smriti', as well as all individual enlightenment that is achieved through severe Yogic experiments. An explanation of Yogas and what they stand for follows later. There are three Major shools of thought in Hindu philosophy about the relationship between human and the Truth - Dwaita, Adwaita, and Vishishtadwaita. Translated into English, the three mean - Dualism, Non-Dualism and Conditional Non-Dualism - in the same order as above. The three great Sages who contributed these three concepts were Madhwa Acharya, Shankara Acharya, and Ramanuja Acharya again in the same order. (Acharya in Sanskrit means Teacher and it is a respectful title given to a deserving few. When written, it is usually written as a part of the person's name. Hence, Ramanuja Acharya becomes Ramanujacharya and so on). Dwaita Dwaita means "Dualism". This theory states that man and God are distinct entities and they share a unique relationship between them. According to it, man, the finite element, is constrained by the cycle of births and rebirths. The Infinite element (God) is free from all these constraints i.e., He is free from births and rebirths. God has no beginning nor end. The Infinite element in this relationship is referred to as 'Paramatman' and the finite element as 'Jivatman'. Through devotion, 'Jivatman' attains 'Paramatman'. Madhwacharya founded the Dwaita school of thought. According to him, God is an ``Independent Being'' possessing unrestricted powers, He is all-knowing and controls all sentient and insentient objects in this universe. According to Madhvacharya, the entire universe is divided into ``Independent'' and ``Dependent''. The former is infinite in His attributes. He is the home of all auspicious qualities. It was also his view that Jivatman is eternally dependent on the Paramatman in this relationship. According to Madhva's philosophy, all souls except the Lord are under bondage, which prevents them from knowing their identity and blocks the Lord's vision. This two-fold ignorance, constituting the bondage, is responsible for the selfish, violent and unjust activities of man. Not knowing his nature, he identifies himself with the body and seeks the pleasure of the senses. Adwaita Adi Shankara propounded the "Adwaita" or Non-Dualistic theory. He proclaimed that the finite and Infinite elements are not distinct elements but are indeed One and the Same. According to him, there is a screen of illusion ('Maya' in Sanskrit) which separates man from God. As soon as man realizes his folly and comes out of his illusion, he is one with the Infinite. Adi Shankara From time to time great spiritual leaders appeared in India whenever there was a threat to the religion of Sanatana dharma, to re-establish its eternal principles for the benefit of humanity. |
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Among them, Adi Shankara
Bhagavatpada ('Bhagavatpada' means Divine Feet) played the pivotal role of
not only reinstating the Vedantic religion but also reorganizing the
religion on the lines of systematic worship, known as 'Shanmata', thus
establishing that philosophy and religion complement one another in the
tradition of Sanatana dharma. It was very long ago (there is unsettled controversy about Shankara's birth date and hence, I will avoid mentioning any date) that a village by name Kalady neighboring the holy city of Trichur in Kerala State, south of India, was chosen for a divine happening. To a blessed couple, Sivaguru, a scholarly Brahmin, and Aryamba, his pious wife, was born the godly child Shankara, later to be known as Adi Shankara BagavatPada to the world. The period before and during Shankara's birth was witness to the spiritual degradation of India and a mass adoption of atheistic philosophies by Indians. Buddhism was rampant and was slowly diverting people away from the Vedas and Hinduism and was drawing them into atheism. People started refuting the existence of God and took to Nihilistic philosophies. Buddhism and Jainism Buddhism and Jainism are both believed to have appeared in India at around the same time thousands of centuries ago. It is wrong to consider Buddhism and Jainism in their original forms as religions. They were both philosophies propounded by two great Hindu seers, Gautam Buddha and Mahavir Jain. To this day, both Buddha and Mahavira are revered by Hindus in India. Both Buddha and Mahavira preached that all life forms on earth experience pain, pleasure, sorrow and happiness due to their bondage to Samsara. They urged mankind to renounce all earthly attachments in order to achieve liberation from rebirths and attain Nirvana. Both teachers therefore corroborated the Hindu premise that the Truth manifests itself as us and we continue to manifest as long as we identify with this illusory world and fall into the trap of desires. |
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Yet, they also spoke of the "Unmanifest
Reality" (which is again mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita). Although both
Masters spoke of the "Unmanifest Reality", they refused to call it God. This
led to a brief period in Indian history that witnessed the growth of
atheistic philosophies, questioning the very existence of God. God therefore
incarnated as Adi Shankara to convincingly defeat both philosophies and
reestablish faith in God and the superiority of Vedic philosophy. Although Adi Shankara's earthly sojourn was very short- barely 32 years - he traveled the length and breadth of the subcontinent of India, preaching his philosophy of 'Adwaita', and defeated all forms of atheistic philosophers - Buddhists, Jains, Nihilists - in every nook and corner of India, thereby reestablishing the superiority of Sanatana Dharma and the Vedas. Many eminent scholars from all corners of the country became his disciples. He restructured the 72 forms of desultory Hindu religious practices into six ways of worship or six sects - 'Ganapathyam' (The worship of Lord Ganapathy, the son of Lord Shiva), 'Kaumaram' (worship of Lord Kumaran, the second son of Lord Shiva), 'Sauram' (worship of Lord Surya, the Sun),' Shaivam' (worship of Lord Shiva, the Destroyer) 'Vaishnavam' (worship of Lord Vishnu, the Preserver) and 'Shaktham' (worship of Mother Shakthi, the feminine power of God). He is hence hailed as the 'Shanmatha Sthapanacharya' (The Teacher who established the Six Sects). During his trek across the country, he held debates with several scholars and defeated all of them, establishing the superiority of Adwaita and Hinduism. He also authored several immortal philosophical treatises. Chief among them is the concept of 'adwaita', besides commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, and the ten principal Upanishads. Other poetical works such as the Soundarya Lahari, and the Sivananda Lahari are paeans in praise of various Hindu deities. |
