Remembering the Leadership of Tamil National Leader Hon Velupillai Pirabhakaran on his 68th Birthday: V. Rudrakumaran

When Tamils were massacred by Sinhalese in 1958, Mr. Prabhakaran was 4 years old. It is said that he asked his father why Tamils did not hit back.

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, November 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ --

It is with great pride and gratitude that I write this message to mark the occasion of the 68th birthday of the Tamil National Leader Honorable Velupillai Prabhakaran, who Tamils from the island of Sri Lanka around the globe fondly and respectfully call Thalaivar (leader).

Thalaivar is not only in the hearts of Eelam Tamils, but rather in the hearts of all Tamils across the globe. During the peace process, I visited many countries and witnessed firsthand the reverence and emotional attachment Tamils worldwide have for Thalaivar. Tamils across the globe look to Thalaivar as someone who gave them dignity and strength.

During peace process, I was privileged to interact directly with Thalaivar. His humility, hospitality, and respect for fellow human beings stood out.

Thalaivar had vision. It was Thalaivar, the first Tamil leader who first recognized the importance of the adjacent seas to the Tamil homeland for the Liberation Struggle and for tomorrows state of Tamil Eelam.l Heclaimed jurisdiction over it during the negotiations with the Sri Lankan state.

The domestic leadership in the island of Sri Lanka should also focus on Tamils' rights over the adjacent seas to the Tamil Homeland. Given the growing importance of the Indian Ocean, which accounts for one-half of the world’s container traffic, turning a blind eye toward adjacent seas is neither helpful nor strategic in asserting the rights of the Tamils to Sinhala rulers or to the international powers. Ignoring our rights over the adjacent seas will also be not helpful in acquiring a seat at the table of Indian Ocean geopolitics.

Thalaivar firmly believed that for any political move power is essential. He entered into negotiations from the position of strength.

Throughout South Asia, historical political and liberation struggles were primarily waged through nonviolent means. This was the case in India, Nepal and the Maldives. Sri Lanka also obtained independence without shedding blood, tears, or sweat.

In the case of India, although Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent struggle won the day, during that period, Netayi Subhas Chandra Bose waged an armed struggle with his National Army of the provisional government of free India. Tamil Nadu was his primary supportive base. Dr Chempakaraman Pillai was his lieutenant.

In the Island of Sri Lanka, Tamil parliamentary leaders exclusively waged nonviolent struggle and became victims of Sinhalese violence and thuggery. When Tamils were massacred by a group of Sinhalese with government support in 1958, Mr. Prabhakaran was 4 years old. It is said that he asked his father why Tamils did not hit back. Mr. Prabhakaran’s comment was not an isolated utterance or an accident. It was the beginning of a new Tamil history. As a youth, Mr. Prabhakaran considered Subhas Chandra Bose his mentor and role model and started to think about armed struggle.

Due to historical necessity, when Thalaivar took up an armed struggle, which ultimately entailed a lot of sacrifices, the Tamil People started to support it.

As the International Court of Justice stated in the Western Sahara case, and I am paraphrasing here, an armed struggle which entailed dangers and sacrifices is more authentic.

The Tamil’s armed struggle was exactly that and Thalaivar was the backbone of this authentic development.

Initially, taking into account the struggle of Dr. SunYat- sen, the first professional President of Republic of China and other liberation struggles in Latin Americaand Africa, Thalaivar applied “hit and run” as his strategy for armed struggle.

Following the withdrawal of the Indian Peacekeeping forces, the Tamil armed struggle evolved into a conventional struggle. In 2009, following the Tamil genocide, the Tamils silenced their guns.

Silencing the guns is not synonymous with deprivation of power. Power has many forms and many manifestations. The power of the Tamil Diaspora has been made clear in municipal and national parliaments in Canada and the United Kingdom, for example, where officials bills have been passed recognizing the perpetration of atrocity crimes against Tamils by the Sri Lankan State. It has also mean made clear through statements by several UN High Commissioners of Human Rights and the International Commission of Jurists, which called for referral of Sri Lanka to International Criminal Court (ICC). That is power on an international scale. The power of our voice cannot and should not be underestimated.

We the Eelam Tamils may not be a nation with large numbers, but we have thousands of years of rich history. We were subjected to genocide, but we are a resilient nation. We have been denied justice, but we are determined to find justice through our dedication and imagination by creating more forums. We do not have any armed might at the moment, but we are a people with geopolitical significance; we inhabit a strategically important piece of land in the Indian Ocean.

Let’s use that strategic importance as our capital and continue our struggle to establish an independent and sovereign State of Tamil Eelam - the first Tamil State since the Westphalia system of nation state introduced in 1555, and thus, a Tamil State rightly ours and long overdue to be returned to us.

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran
Prime Minister
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran
Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)
+ 16142023377
r.thave@tgte.org
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