Others said that when the LTTE leader came to surrender under a contract, he was shot dead in violation of international norms.
Digital Desk: Fourteen years after the Sri Lankan government pronounced LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran dead, veteran Tamil Nadu politician Pazha Nedumaran stated today that he is alive and well and will soon make a public appearance.
Prabhakaran, who formed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and conducted an extended guerrilla campaign in the island nation for a separate homeland for Lankan Tamils, was pronounced killed on May 18, 2009, following a military operation in Mullivaikal. The Sri Lankan government was then led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Mr. Nedumaran, president of the World Tamils Confederation, told Thanjavur journalists, "Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE, is still alive and will appear shortly. We are delighted to share this news with the rest of the globe. He would make his ambitions for Tamil Eelam public."
He explained the timing of this declaration by saying, "The fall of the Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka following the Sinhala revolt has provided a favourable environment. This is the appropriate time for him (Prabhakaran) to appear."
Following the announcement of Prabhakaran's death by the Sri Lankan government in 2009, multiple images and videos of a body were circulated. Many people claimed these were doctored at the time. Others said that when the LTTE leader came to surrender under a contract, he was shot dead in violation of international norms.
Prabhakaran was 54 years old at the time.
Pazha Nedumaran provided no information about the LTTE leader's current location.
Prabhakaran was a key suspect in the 1991 killing of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur, for which he was branded a proclaimed offender. He was also charged in additional assassination cases in Sri Lanka, and the LTTE was designated a terrorist organization.
What began as a liberation movement with a few other organizations challenging decades of oppression against Tamils in Sri Lanka, LTTE Chief Prabhakaran later resorted to military struggle, which was notorious for guerilla warfare and suicide assaults. The LTTE was the first terrorist organization to establish an aviation force.
The Sri Lankan army, on the other side, has been accused of widespread human rights crimes.
During the latter stages of the battle against the LTTE, more than a lakh Lankan Tamil civilians were purportedly killed in bombs. An UN-appointed lessons-learned and reconciliation panel had also looked into this. Sri Lanka has not yet responded.
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