Prabhakaran was the youngest of four children, born in Valvettithurai, on Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula's northern coast. The LTTE waged war in Sri Lanka for more than 25 years, to create an independent state for the Sri Lankan Tamil people. India holds the rebels responsible for the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May, 1991.Velupillai Prabhakaran ( listen (US English) Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் Tamil pronunciation:, 26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is considering lifting the ban on the LTTE but New Delhi has made it clear it will not follow suit.
The arrest, which coincides with a visit to Colombo by newly appointed foreign minister Jashwant Sinha, could also complicate the Sri Lanka peace process. Vaiko's arrest may prove awkward for New Delhi as the MDMK is a partner of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's ruling coalition. "Can you speak of Palestinians without referring to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)? Can you speak of Northern Ireland without referring to the Irish Republican Army (IRA)?'' he asked. I have expressed my views in parliament and I am consistent about it,'' he said in the Times report.
Thousands of MDMK members were also arrested Vaiko said the Tamil Nadu government had abused the emergency legislation which was introduced to counter cross-border militancy from Pakistani soil. He also attacked his arrest under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). "We will mobilize public opinion and continue the relentless fight until Jayalalithaa's government is overthrown." "Ours is a party committed to peace and democracy," he was quoted as saying by the Times of India news network on Friday. Jayalalithaa and accused him of launching a "political vendetta" against him and his party. Vaiko, who will appear before a magistrate on Friday, hit out at Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. They are currently observing a permanent truce ahead of anticipated peace talks with the majority Sinhalese government. The LTTE have been fighting for two decades in Sri Lanka for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Tamils. The arrest follows a speech that Vaiko allegedly delivered in June in support of the Tiger rebels - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - who are banned as a terrorist group in India. The leader of the regional MDMK party, known as Vaiko, was arrested on Thursday as he stepped off a commercial flight at Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Īs many as 2,000 other MDMK members - most of them Tamil - were also picked up across the state ahead of Vaiko's return.
NEW DELHI, India - A leading Indian politician has accused state government officials of abusing new anti-terror laws after being arrested for expressing support for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels.