K. Pathmanabha | |
|---|---|
க. பத்மநாபா | |
 | |
| Born | 19 November 1951 |
| Died | 19 June 1990 (aged 38) |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Other names | Ranjan |
| Years active | –1990 |
| Organization | Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front |
Kandasamy Pathmanabha (Tamil : கந்தசாமி பத்மநாபா; 19 November 1951 – 19 June 1990) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and founder/leader of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
Pathmanabha was born on 19 November 1951. [1] [2] He was from Kankesanthurai in northern Ceylon. [2]
Pathmanabha became interested in radical politics in the late 1960s. He was one of the members of the Tamil Student Federation/Tamil Students' League which was formed in 1972 as a reaction to the discriminatory Policy of standardisation. [3] The 1974 Tamil conference incident further radicalised Pathmanabha. [1]
In 1974/75 Pathmanabha and others founded the Eelam Liberation Organisation (Eela Viduthalai Iyakkam) (ELO). [4] On 10 May 1976 the ELO robbed the Puloly Multi-purpose Cooperative Society's bank in Puloly. [5] Pathmanabha was personally involved in the robbery. [4] Others involved in the robbery included Varatharaja Perumal (later Chief Minister of North Eastern Province), V. Balakumaran (later leader of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students) and S. Thavaraja (later an Eelam People's Democratic Party MP and leader of the opposition on the Northern Provincial Council). [6] [7] After the robbery Pathmanabha went on the run whilst the ELO disintegrated due to the security crackdown. [4]
Pathmanabha moved to London in 1976 to study accountancy. [1] Here he met with other Tamils who shared his views. Together they formed the General Union of Eelam Students (GUES) and the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS). [4] Said Hammami, the Palestine Liberation Organization's representative in London, helped a small group Tamils including Pathmanabha take military training in Lebanon. [1] [4] In 1978 he went to India to establish a base for GUES/EROS. [4] He then returned to Sri Lanka but the security forces were still looking for him so he had to travel in disguise. [1] [4]
Pathmanabha and other members, including Douglas Devananda, Varatharaja Perumal and Suresh Premachandran, left the EROS in 1981 and formed their own militant group which would come to be known as the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). [4] Pathmanabha moved to Kodambakam, Madras, India in 1981 to establish the new group. [1]
In December 1986 the rival Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked the EPRLF in Sri Lanka, inflicting a heavy losses and killing Gaffoor, the EPRLF's military commander. [8] [9] Many EPRLF cadres were killed or taken prisoner and EPRLF camps and weapons were seized by the LTTE. [8] [9] Devananda was blamed for the debacle. [8] The LTTE's animosity against the EPRLF, which it considered to be pro-India, increased following the outbreak of fighting between the LTTE and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), a military unit in the Sri Lankan civil war, in October 1987. [10] The LTTE called for a boycott of the 1988 North Eastern Provincial Council election, stating that anyone who contested would be labelled a traitor and punished. [10] The EPRLF nevertheless contested and, with the connivance of the IPKF, secured 41 of the 71 seats on the North Eastern Provincial Council. [11] Varatharaja Perumal became the first (and only) Chief Minister of North Eastern Province. [10] On 1 March 1990, just as the IPKF were preparing to withdraw from Sri Lanka, Perumal moved a motion in the North Eastern Provincial Council declaring an independent Eelam. [12] Fearful of the consequences once the IPKF had pulled out, the EPRLF leadership fled to India. [10] [13] On 11 March 1990 Pathmanabha was flown from Trincomalee to Bhubaneswar in an Indian military aircraft. [13] President Ranasinghe Premadasa imposed direct rule on the North Eastern province on 25 March 1990. [14]
On the evening of 19 June 1990 the EPRLF central committee were meeting at a flat at the Zachria Colony in Kodambakam. [15] [16] At around 7pm gunmen broke into the flat and started firing. [15] Eight people including Pathmanabha, Member of Parliament G. Yogasangari and provincial minister P. Kirubakaran were killed. [15] [16] [17] Five EPRLF cadres waiting outside the block of flats were also killed. [15] The killings was blamed on the rival rebel group LTTE. [15] [16] [18]
The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group.
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is a Sri Lankan Tamil political party and former militant group. Initially, the TELO campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in northeastern Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1987, until it later accepted the December 19th proposals. The TELO was originally established as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The surviving members of the TELO reorganised themselves as a political party which continues to function as such today.
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The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1990. The other half of EROS that did not join forces with the LTTE due was led by PLO trained Shankar Rajee, Senior politburo member and military commander of EROS from 1990 until his demise in 2005. The political wing of 'EROS' is known as the Eelavar Democratic Front.
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. He was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on 22 November 2019.
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Kandasamy Iyer Balanadarajah Iyer (Balanadarasan), also known as Sinna Bala, (6 June 1957 – 16 August 2004) was a Sri Lankan Tamil activist, writer and poet who was a media secretary and a senior member of the Eelam People's Democratic Party.
Provincial Council elections were held on 19 November 1988 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s North Eastern Provincial Council.
The 1999 Sri Lankan provincial council election was held on 25 January 1999, 6 April 1999 and 10 June 1999 to elect members to seven provincial councils in Sri Lanka. No election was held in the eighth province, North Eastern, which had been governed directly by the national government since March 1990. The People's Alliance, which was in power nationally, won the majority of seats in two provinces. It was also able to form a majority administration in the other five provinces with the support of smaller parties such as the Ceylon Workers' Congress.
The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) is a former Indian backed Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1987 as an amalgamation of splinter groups from other militant groups. It is currently a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. In August 2011 it was reported that the party is to be deregistered.
The Eelam National Liberation Front (ENLF) was a short-lived (1984–1986) umbrella organisation for leading Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups.
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