The
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an
Eelam Tamil organisation campaigning for the establishment of an independent
Tamil Eelam in the northeast of
Sri Lanka.
The TELO was originally created 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). Its surviving members reorganised themselves as a
political party, and it continues to function as such today.
The TELO currently has two Members of
Parliament. It is part of the
Tamil National Alliance, a coalition of Tamil parties which won 2.9% of the popular vote and 14 out of 225 seats at the
2010 parliamentary election in Sri Lanka.
Early history
The TELO evolved out of the group of Tamil
student radicals formed by
Nadarajah Thangathurai and
Selvarajah Yogachandran (better known by his
nom de guerre Kuttimani) in the late 1960s. The group formally constituted itself into an organisation in 1979, inspired in part by the LTTE and the
Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS). Soon, it had become the most effective of the Tamil militant groups except the LTTE.
Its success did not last long, however. Both Thangathurai and Kuttimani were captured by the
Sri Lankan Army in 1981 while they were in the process of escaping to
India. For a while after their arrest, the TELO was led by Sri Sabaratnam as the de facto leader.
The TELO was thereafter relatively dormant until 1983. On 25 July
1983, both Thangathurai and Kuttimani were brutally tortured and killed
in a
prison riot by Sinhalese prisoners. Sri Sabaratnam then became its head. The trained cadre would be supplied with weaponry, and sent to
Sri Lanka to wage a guerrilla war against the army.
In February 1984, the TELO together with the EROS and the
Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) set up a common militant front for the Eelam struggle, which was called the
Eelam National Liberation Front,
or ENLF. The LTTE joined the ENLF in April that year. In co-ordination,
the groups began carrying out attacks against government positions in
Jaffna.
The TELO used its arms to destroy the main police station in Jaffna,
and attack military convoys. The combined assaults led to the near-total
disappearance of government authority in Jaffna.
Internal dissension and the conflict with the LTTE
As a leader, however, Sri Sabaratnam lacked the charisma which the likes of
Prabhakaran
had, and he was unable to convey the sense of vision to the TELO which
the LTTE had. As a result, the TELO's rapid growth was not backed up by a
strong ideology like the LTTE's had been, and a number of its cadre
were seen as bullies. Sri Sabaratnam, relying heavily on his association
with and support by India, had not acquired the sort of advanced modern
weaponry that the LTTE had, and the group therefore began losing its
effectiveness. A number of TELO members became unhappy with Sri
Sabaratnam's leadership, and dissension grew in the ranks. By 1985, a
number of factions had emerged in the TELO. The rivalry between the
factions led to the murder of Dass, one of the factional leaders, in
April 1986. This led to a split in the organisation, with several dozen
members leaving.
In the meantime, differences with the LTTE were also growing. The
LTTE was unhappy with the pro-India stance of the TELO. They also were
upset that the TELO was getting by far the largest share of
contributions from Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates, even though the TELO
was not as active or successful as the LTTE. Prabhakaran also feared
that India would use the TELO to have him killed.
Matters came to a head with the assassination of two prominent Tamil politicians in Jaffna,
M. Alalasundaram and
V. Dharmalingam,
in September 1985. The TELO and the LTTE blamed each other for the
killings. In February 1986, the LTTE pulled out of the ENLF. On 29 April
that year, they launched an all-out assault on the TELO. TELO bases
across Jaffna were shelled with mortars. TELO cadres, whether armed or
unarmed, came under rifle attack and were shot dead. No quarter was
given, according to eyewitnesses. Those who surrendered were shot dead
as they laid down their weapons, and those who attempted to flee were
shot as they ran. Civilians were warned not to shelter fugitives. he few
TELO cadres who managed to find refuge with other armed groups such as
the EPRLF or the EROS were nearly the only ones who survived. On 5 May,
the TELO's leader Sri Sabaratnam was shot dead by
Sathasivam Krishnakumar of the LTTE, better known as
Kittu. In all, over four hundred men had been killed, and the TELO had been virtually wiped out.
The LTTE at the time justified its actions as necessary, arguing that
the TELO was being used by India to infiltrate the Eelam struggle and
reshape it to its own ends. Several years later, however, in 1990,
Kittu, who had directed and led the massacres, admitted that it had been
a mistake to kill the cadres of the TELO, although the assassination of
the top leaders was justified.
Some attempts were made during the
IPKF
period to revive the TELO as a militant group, and to avenge those
killed by the LTTE. They were assisted by the Indian army, which armed
them and used them to try and contain the LTTE, who opposed the IPKF
presence. However, they came under constant LTTE attack and suffered
heavy casualties, losing as many as 70 in a single attack in September
1987. Once the IPKF withdrew, the military strength of these groups
melted away, with most of their members surrendering to the LTTE in fear
of reprisals. Since then, the TELO has never revived as an effective
militant group.
The TELO as a political party
After the killing of Sri Sabaratnam,
Selvam Adaikalanathan
became the leader of the TELO. Following the melting away of its cadre
after the IPKF's withdrawal, he decided that the TELO would never
recover and therefore eventually reconstituted it as a political party.
TELO formed an alliance with the
Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front, EPRLF and
Tamil United Liberation Front to contest the
1989 parliamentary elections. The alliance won 188,593 votes (3.40%), securing 10 of the 225 seats in Parliament. 2 of the 10 alliance MPs were from TELO.
TELO formed an alliance with EROS and
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam to contest the
1994 parliamentary elections. The alliance won 38,028 votes (0.48%), securing 3 of the 225 seats in Parliament. None of the 3 alliance MPs were from TELO.
At the
2000 parliamentary elections TELO contested on its own and won 26,112 votes (0.30%), securing 3 of the 225 seats in Parliament.
The TELO maintained an ambivalent position with relation to the LTTE
for some years, but starting from the mid-1990s, it began to take an
increasingly pro-LTTE stand. In 2001, it joined the
Tamil National Alliance,
a coalition of pro-independence Tamil parties, which supported, and was
supported by, the LTTE. In an interview, Adaikkalanathan explained the
contradiction behind the TELO supporting a group to which it was once
opposed. While the TELO does not accept internecine killing and can
never forget what the LTTE has done, he says it would be betraying the
Tamil people to oppose the LTTE, because victory could only be achieved
if all Tamil groups set aside their differences and present a united
front.
2001 Parliamentary General Election
In the first parliamentary election contested by the
Tamil National Alliance, the
5 December 2001 election, the TNA led by
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 3.88% of the popular vote and 15 out of 225 seats in the
Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district
Electoral
District |
Votes |
% |
Seats |
Turnout |
TNA MPs |
| Ampara |
48,789 |
17.41% |
1 |
82.51% |
Chandranehru Ariyanayagam (TULF) |
| Batticaloa |
86,284 |
48.17% |
3 |
68.20% |
Gnanamuttu Krishnapillai (ACTC)
Joseph Pararajasingham (TULF)
Thambiraja Thangavadivel (TELO) |
| Colombo |
12,696 |
1.20% |
0 |
76.31% |
|
| Jaffna |
102,324 |
54.84% |
6 |
31.14% |
Veerasingham Anandasangaree (TULF)
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (ACTC)
Nadarajah Raviraj (TULF)
Mavai Senathirajah (TULF)
M.K. Shivajilingam (TELO)
Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy (ACTC) |
| Trincomalee |
56,121 |
34.83% |
1 |
79.88% |
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (TULF) |
| Vanni |
41,950 |
44.39% |
3 |
46.77% |
Selvam Adaikalanathan (TELO)
Sivasakthy Ananthan (EPRLF)
Irasa Kuhaneswaran (TELO) |
| National List |
|
|
1 |
|
Murugesu Sivasithamparam (TULF), died 5 June 2002
Kathirgamathamby Thurairetnasingam (TULF) (replaces Murugesu Sivasithamparam) |
| Total |
348,164 |
3.88% |
15 |
76.03% |
|
| Source:"Parliamentary General Election 2001, Final District Results". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
|
2004 Parliamentary General Election
In the
2 April 2004 parliamentary election in which the
United People's Freedom Alliance alliance led by
President Kumaratunga came to power, the
Tamil National Alliance led by
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 6.84% of the popular vote and 22 out of 225 seats in the
Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district
Electoral
District |
Votes |
% |
Seats |
Turnout |
TNA MPs |
| Ampara |
55,533 |
19.13% |
1 |
81.42% |
Kanagasabai Pathmanathan, died 21 May 2009
Thomas Thangathurai William, from 12 June 2009 (replaces Kanagasabai Pathmanathan) |
| Batticaloa |
161,011 |
66.71% |
4 |
83.58% |
Senathirajah Jeyanandamoorthy
Thanmanpillai Kanagasabai
Thangeswary Kathiraman
Kingsley Rasanayagam, resigned April 2004
Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanethiran, from 18 May 2004 (replaces Kingsley Rasanayagam) |
| Jaffna |
257,320 |
90.60% |
8 |
47.38% |
Selvarajah Kajendren
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (ACTC)
Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF)
Nadarajah Raviraj (ITAK), murdered 10 November 2006
Mavai Senathirajah (ITAK)
M.K. Shivajilingam (TELO)
Kidnan Sivanesan, murdered 6 March 2008
Pathmini Sithamparanathan
Nallathamby Srikantha (TELO), from 30 November 2006 (replaces Nadarajah Raviraj)
Solomon Cyril, from 9 April 2008 (replaces Kidnan Sivanesan) |
| Trincomalee |
68,955 |
37.72% |
2 |
85.44% |
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (ITAK)
Kathirgamathamby Thurairetnasingam (ITAK) |
| Vanni |
90,835 |
64.71% |
5 |
66.64% |
Selvam Adaikalanathan (TELO)
Sivasakthy Ananthan (EPRLF)
Sathasivam Kanagaratnam
Sivanathan Kisshor
Vino Noharathalingam (TELO) |
| National List |
|
|
2 |
|
M.K. Eelaventhan, expelled from Parliament 14 December 2007 for non-attendance
Joseph Pararajasingham (ITAK), murdered 24 December 2005
Chandra Nehru Chandrakanthan, from 27 September 2006 (replaces Joseph Pararajasingham)
Raseen Mohammed Imam, from 5 February 2008 (replaces M.K. Eelaventhan) |
| Total |
633,654 |
6.84% |
22 |
75.96% |
|
| Source:"Parliamentary General Election 2004, Final District Results". Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
|
2010 Parliamentary General Election
In the
8 April 2010 parliamentary election in which the
United People's Freedom Alliance alliance led by
President Rajapaksa retained power, the
Tamil National Alliance led by
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan won 2.9% of the popular vote and 14 out of 225 seats in the
Sri Lankan parliament.
Votes and seats won by TNA by electoral district
References
- Hellmann-Rajanayagam, D. (1994) "The Goups and the rise of Militant
Secessions". in Manogaram, C. and Pfaffenberger, B. (editors). The Sri
Lankan Tamils. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-8133-8845-7
- Narayan Swamy, M. R. (2002) Tigers of Lanka: from Boys to Guerrillas, Konark Publishers; 3rd ed. ISBN 81-220-0631-0
External links
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