VVT 'votes' for Prabhakaran

By Nirupama Subramanian

VALVETTITHURAI (Jaffna), NOV. 26. The leader of the Tamil Tigers, Mr. Velupillai Prabhakaran, is a wanted man in two countries and the guerilla group he heads is banned as terrorist in five, but to the inhabitants of this fishing hamlet on the northern coast of the Sri Lankan peninsula where he was born and grew up, he is a hero.

It is several years since anyone here last saw him, but their loyalties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its chief, still run deep. Many of the families are related to him and the earliest cadres of the LTTE were drawn from here. ``People here are 100 per cent behind him. They consider him to be their only leader,'' said Dr. Kanagasundaram Mylerum Perumal, the district medical officer.

That might explain the overwhelming popularity enjoyed in this area by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the four-party coalition that is seeking votes on a pro-LTTE platform in the December 5 parliamentary election. Most of the inhabitants in VVT, as Valvettithurai is popularly known, are fisherfolk, whose livelihood has been severely affected by the ban imposed by the security forces on fishing in the area from August 30 this year.

The Government gives monetary compensation, but the affected families said they were not interested in hand-outs from the State, which were in any case insufficient.

``All we want is to be able to pursue our livelihood without any restrictions and to live in peace,'' said Mr. R. Indira Raja, who heads the local fishermen's association.

He claimed the Government was deliberately persecuting them because of the area's links with the LTTE leader and predicted that most people here would vote for the TNA, which is promising to force peace talks with the group.

The feeling of persecution is not restricted to the fishermen alone. The only hospital of the area has no stocks of basic medicines and gauze and Dr. Perumal, who is in charge of it, has not received his pay since June. ``They neglect us because this is Prabhakaran's home town,'' he insisted.

The LTTE was building an underground hospital under the existing one when it was forced to withdraw from the peninsula by the Sri Lankan Army in 1995. Now, the DMO is awaiting clearance from his superiors to convert the underground structure into a cobalt unit for cancer patients in Vadamarachchi. ``The health department is not willing to give the permission to fix the unit in Prabhakaran's hospital,'' he said. Only 5,000 of the 25,000 people who lived here in 1996 still remain in VVT. The rest followed the withdrawing cadres of the LTTE into the northern mainland. ``We also wanted to leave, but by the time we packed our belongings, the Army sealed all the routes and there was no way but to continue here,'' said Mr. Indira Raja.

As recently as two months ago, the fishermen of VVT asked the security forces to allow them to leave for the LTTE- controlled northern mainland escorted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, but they were refused permission. Even the priests in VVT allege persecution, some because they have not received sufficient funds to carry out repairs, and others because they have refused to accept government finances. Recently, a fire swept through a temple that is managed by close relations of Mr. Prabhakaran.

``We do not know the cause of the fire yet, but if the Government thinks we are going to beg them for finances to set right the damage, they are mistaken. We do not need their money,'' said Mr. Sabaratnam Ramaswamy, an uncle of the LTTE leader. The home which the LTTE leader left as a teenager is still stands, but not much of it is left barring the walls that are covered with obscene graffiti in Sinhala, presumably scribbled by passing soldiers.

For most people here, Tuesday is an important day. They expect confirmation from him in the `Heroes' Day' speech, that he annually delivers on this day, that they should vote for the TNA. ``We are all eagerly awaiting his statement. The people will go by whatever he says,'' said Mr. M. K. Shivajilingam, a TNA candidate in Jaffna and a member of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) which, as a one-time rival to the LTTE, was at the receiving end of its wrath and was all but decimated by it in 1986.

But now, Mr. Shivajilingam, who also belongs to VVT, is of the view that the only salvation for the Tamil people lies in the LTTE. He said if elected in strength, the TNA would force the Government to begin peace talks with the LTTE within two weeks to 100 days, but first declare a unilateral ceasefire within 72 hours. ``I cannot claim to speak for the LTTE, but we hope they will respond positively,'' Mr. Shivajilingam said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Pak. hand in Mazar incident?
Next     : Indian election monitors arrive in Sri Lanka