Is LTTE Leader Prabakaran Still Alive?
Tamil nationalist movement leader Pazha Nedumaran claimed that the LTTE leader, Prabakaran was still alive, and would emerge in public soon.
Pazha Nedumaran is an Indian and is a leader of the Tamils nationalist movement. He strongly supported the Tamilians and wanted to preserve the Tamilian culture and history. Along with being a strong Tamil Nationalist leader, he also supported another group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) which was in Sri Lanka.
Velupillai Prabakaran was the head of LTTE which was fighting since 1983 with the Sri Lankan government for an independent country for the Tamilians in Sri Lanka. The then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa on 18th May 2009 declared the end of a 26-year war in which over 1,00,000 people were killed and millions of Sri Lankans, mainly minority Tamils were displaced as refugees inside the country and abroad. Though the exact date when Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan Army was not known, his death was announced on 18th May 2009. The “discovery” of the body marked the end to the civil war.
However, some Tamil nationalist doubted the government’s version and claimed that Prabakaran may still be alive, after escaping from the final battle zone in 2009. Pazha Nedumaran claimed, on 13th February 2023, that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) leader, Velupillai Prabakaran was still alive, and would emerge in public soon. At a press conference, Nedumaran said the time was now right for the LTTE leader to come out in the open in the context of the Sri Lankan people’s protest against Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Stating that it was a pleasurable moment to declare that ‘Thamizh Desiya Thalaivar’ (Tamil Nationalist Leader) Prabakaran was hale and healthy, he said that this announcement should put an end to the ‘rumours’ about his death. Mr. Nedumaran urged the Indian Government to initiate necessary steps to prevent [Box 12 China from becoming strong in Sri Lanka. He said, “When the LTTE was still around, they never let any countries which opposed India to set foot on their land nor did it have any relationship with these countries. It did not take help from them. But we can see that China’s influence in Sri Lanka has grown and that China now controls Sri Lanka.
However, Sri Lanka dismissed the claim that LTTE chief Prabhakaran was still alive as a joke. Colonel Nalin Herath, Sri Lanka's defence ministry spokesman said, "It is confirmed that he was killed on 18th May 2009. The DNA has proved it,” However, Nedumaran maintained that “they were in touch with the LTTE leader” and would say nothing more than that.
