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23-513: The Tamil New Tigers ( TNT ) was a Sri Lankan Tamil militant organization founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran on 22 May 1972. The group was composed of a few close associates of Prabhakaran, who was only 17 years old when he founded the group. The group was a predecessor to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Initially, the TNT carried out several small-scale attacks, including

46-541: A highly traditional society where obedience to parental authority was expected. Militant youth criticized their elders for indecisiveness at a time when they felt the existence of their ethnic community clearly was in danger. The most important contributor to the strength of the militant groups was the Black July pogrom which was perceived as an organized event in which over 3000 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were slaughtered by Sinhalese mobs, prompting many youth to prefer

69-575: A paramilitary. A faction of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers (EROS) is part of LTTE. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTe) is the only remaining armed Tamil nationalist group. There were over 30 other minor groups of which some are notable such as National Liberation Front of Tamil Eelam (NLFTE), which according to Taraki Sivaram , was a small but influential Maoist group based largely in Jaffna , which "drove down

92-597: A university or secure employment. These individuals belonging to this younger generation, often referred to by other Tamils as "the boys" ( Podiyal in Tamil language ) formed many militant organizations. And when the government launched plans to settle poor farmers in the sparsely populated areas of the dry zone in the North Central Province and the Eastern Provinces alongside irrigation projects

115-474: Is named after the name of a house that the detainees were formerly held but not where they were eventually killed. On the morning of March 30, 1987 a local area commander of the LTTE, Sathasivam Krishnakumar alias Kittu was attacked with a grenade as he was leaving his girlfriend’s home. Although the attack did not kill him, it wounded him seriously enough to warrant an amputation of one of his legs. Following

138-581: The LTTE worked with the government. Its former leader Karuna Amman was incarcerated in London, UK. The current leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan was elected chief minister of the east in the eastern province elections held in 2008 by the government after the liberation of the east from the LTTE . In 1990 the Eelam People's Democratic Party another major Tamil group joined as a paramilitary group and

161-466: The LTTE. Due to the internecine conflicts as well as due to internal conflicts within militant organizations many members of Tamil militant groups cooperated with the Sri Lankan government and have worked as paramilitary groups. They played an important role in military operations against the LTTE as well as in counter insurgency operations. Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal a splinter group from

184-508: The PLOTE leadership denies this. Among the many leftists groups the major one was the pro-Indian and Marxist Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front , militarily defeated by the LTTE but a faction of which is part of the TNA and others working with the Sri Lankan government as paramilitaries. The Eelam People's Democratic Party is a pro-government group and a political party accused of being

207-579: The Sinhalese nationalist groups viewed it as a "reclamation and recreation in the present of the glorious Sinhalese Buddhist past" resulting in many Tamils viewing it as a deliberate attempt of the Sinhalese-dominated state to marginalize them further by decreasing their numbers in the area. The militant groups also represented not only a revolt against the Sinhalese-dominated status quo but also an expression of inter-generational tensions in

230-559: The Sri Lankan government agreed to fund the group. According to the Sri Lankan nationalist Asian Tribune website, by 2009 end of the war the Paramilitaries were disarmed and most of them entered politics. However, civilians giving evidence to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) claimed that the paramilitary groups were still engaged in violence, including abductions and murder. The LLRC found that

253-620: The armed path of resistance. The movement also reflected caste differences and rivalries. The membership of the largest and most important rebel group, for example, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was generally drawn from the Karaiyar or fisherman caste, while individuals belonging to the Vellala or farmer caste were found in considerable numbers in a rival group, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). By

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276-434: The attack Selvakumar Chellasamy alias Aruna, a prominent early member and a regional commander of LTTE reached the house where the detainees were held and is alleged to have killed with an AK-47 all but 2 of the detainees. The estimate of the dead ranges 40 to 63. One of the murdered detainee was later identified as a popular medical officer with EPRLF, Raveendran alias Benjamin from Talawakelle , Sri Lanka. As most of

299-644: The bombing of a carnival at the Duraiappa Stadium in 1972, and several explosions during Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike 's visit to Jaffna in 1974. The group gained notoriety in 1975 when Prabhakaran and three other members assassinated Alfred Duraiappah , the Mayor of Jaffna. The group continued to carry out attacks and a string of bank robberies after the assassination, and the Sri Lanka Police were issued orders to arrest all members of

322-471: The effect of net preference to the majority Sinhalese at the expense of the minority Sri Lankan Tamils such as the Sinhala Only Act . The governments adopted these policies in order to assist the Sinhalese community in such areas as education and public employment . But these policies severely curtailed the middle class Tamil youth, who found it more difficult during the 1970s and 1980s to enter

345-711: The end of 1987, they had fought not only the Sri Lankan security forces but also the Indian Peace Keeping Force and were allegedly involved in acts that were characterized as terrorism against civilians. They also fought among each other briefly, with main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group dominating the others. Most of the Tamil militant groups were eliminated by the LTTE. Most started as student organizations. The notable one were Tamil Students League (TSL) or Tamil Manavar Peravai founded in 1970 by Ponnuthurai Satyaseelan. Another one

368-549: The government had failed to disarm the paramilitary groups which were still recruiting children. One of the main recommendations of the LLRC was that the government disarm the paramilitary groups. In 2011 the US government has also called on the government to stop paramilitary activity in the north of the country. Kanthan Karunai massacre Kanthan Karunai massacre is the name of a mass murder of approximately 63 detainees held by

391-600: The group. Wanting to form a guerrilla group, Prabhakaran created the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on 5 May 1976 and disbanded the Tamil New Tigers. This Sri Lanka –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups The relationship between the Sinhalese and Tamils were not always antagonistic but after 1948 when Sri Lanka became independent, successive governments have adopted policies that had

414-477: The major groups included the Indian trained and equipped Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization , eventually militarily beaten by the LTTE, but politically part of pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance party, as well as a former rival and splinter group from LTTE, the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam , currently a minor standalone political party with many of its cadres working as paramilitaries, although

437-453: The rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on March 30, 1987 in Nallur, Sri Lanka . Most of the detainees held were surrendered youth from rival rebel group Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), as well few members from People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) along with two local businessmen. The massacre

460-411: The rebel groups fighting the Sri Lankan state were composed of minority Tamils, this incident where the perpetrator and the victims were all Tamils created a sense of betrayal. Senior leaders within the LTTE hierarchy too were perturbed by the murders and expressed their displeasure to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran . According to the testimonial of Thalayasingam Sivakumar an early member of LTTE, in

483-528: The road to perdition by splitting hairs over the question of whether it should first build an armed wing or a mass political movement". People's Liberation Army (PLA) in reality the military wing of EPRLF, Led by EPDP founder and leader Douglas Devananda . Important achievement of the PLA was the 1984 kidnapping of American couple Stanley and Mary Allen from Columbus, Ohio , in Jaffna.Another minor but notable group

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506-512: Was Tamil Eelam Army (TEA) of Panagoda Maheswaran involved in the attack against an Air Lanka flight in Madras , India. Tamil Eelam Liberation Army (TELA) founded in 1982 by Oberoi Thevan; a splinter group of TELO. After the assassination of Thevan in 1983 by the LTTE, TELA was absorbed by PLOTE. There are also number of militia groups such as Upsurging People's Force , Ellalan Padai, and Ravanan Padai considered by some to be groups allied to

529-457: Was Tamil Youth League or Tamil Ilaignar Peravai founded in 1973 that was progenitor of many militant groups. Finally General Union of Eelam Students (GUES) founded in London, UK whose members founded Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students which in turn split into Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front that gave birth to current political party and sometime paramilitary organization Eelam People's Democratic Party . Prior to 1987

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