TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal
Encyclopedia
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) , previously known as the "Karuna Group", is a political party in Sri Lanka
. It was formed by Karuna Amman, a former leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
, after he defected from the organization in 2004. Initially a paramilitary group that helped the Sri Lankan Government fight the Tamil Tigers, the TMVP was registered as a political party in 2007. Under deputy leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
, they contested their first provincial elections in 2008
, winning a majority in the Eastern Provincial Council. Members of the TMVP continue to carry arms under the auspices of the Sri Lankan government, which they claim is for their own safety from the Tamil Tigers, who carry out repeated attacks against them. The group is believed to be working with the Sri Lankan army
. They have been accused of human rights violation by local and international human rights organization.
-based Karuna group occurred in March 2004. Karuna and others felt that Prabhakaran had become a dictator of a state that used Northern Tamils to oppress the Eastern Tamils and that Eastern Tamils were not given due recognition for "laying down their lives in disproportionate numbers for the northern leadership". Together with Indian-based Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front
, TVMP has formed Tamileela Iykkiya Viduthalai Munnani as a united front. The purported aim and the motive of the party are to safeguard the rights of Tamils within the Eastern Province.
The president of TMVP was Kumaraswamy Nandagopan
until he was assassinated in November 2008 and the general secretary G.E. Gnanarajah. The third in command is Mangalan Master
Since its formation, the group worked with the Sri Lankan army
to combat the Tamil Tigers. They have been accused of using children to combat the LTTE and have allegedly committed human rights violations in the East of the island. The TMVP, in conjunction with the Government of Sri Lanka on December 1, 2008 signed an action plan stating that they would cease the recruitment of child soldiers and that they would also release from combat all child soldiers.
and Pillaiyan
. Small skirmishes broke out between the Pillaiyan and Karuna factions with some fatalities in May 2007, October 2007, and in May 2008. However, Dheeban the Trincomalee
district leader of the TMVP, denied a split claiming "the split between Karuna and Pillaiyan is a mere media fabrication".
In mid-October 2008, Karuna cadres ransacked the office of Pillaiyan, leading to government consternation and intervention. That same week, the Karuna faction took over the "Thamil Alai" newspaper, the organ of the TMVP, which had been run by Pillaiyan in Karuna's absence. However in late October, Karuna "made it a point to emphasise that there were no differences between them". Due to the internecine feuds between varying factions of the TMVP, the Government of Sri Lanka has decided it would begin the disarmament of the feuding groups in early 2009. As tensions flared up in late 2009, the government began putting restrictions on the placement of TMVP political signs in cities of the East of Sri Lanka
that has been proposed by Colonel Karuna
, as either a splinter group of, or a new name for the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal. However, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
has denied that this has proposed, stating "When I met him (Karuna) and asked about this, he said that there was no such thing". The name change has been floated around because Karuna and related figures feel the word "Puligal" meaning Tiger, implies association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
. The TMVP 11 member politburo is currently deliberating on the issue, with Karuna threatening to start the new party if it is not approved. However Karuna spokesman D. Kamalanathan denied both that a name change would take place and that there was a rift within the party, attributing the rumours to those against the TMVP
organizations Human Rights Watch
, Amnesty International
and NGOs of recruiting children, torture, assassinations and engaging in extortion in its war against the LTTE. Human Rights Watch claimed that from June 2006 to December 2006 they have forcefully recruited several hundred children
. The TMVP has also been accused of being involved in kidnappings for ransom of wealthy, predominantly Tamil, businessmen to raise money in Colombo and other towns. Some businessmen were allegedly killed because their family could not pay the ransom. Media has reported that these abductions were linked to the Security forces in these abductions, either directly facilitating them or providing a cover and not taking any action against them. One such abducted man alleged that while he was being transported, from his workplace in Colombo, his abduction vehicle came across Army checkpoints but was not rescued.
In 2006, the Tamil Human Rights group UTHR also accused the TMVP of taking part in death squad
activity against civilians
in one incident, the children who were abducted by the TMVP cadres were being held in a store across a Sri Lankan military camp. The parents of the abducted children pleaded with the military but no actions were taken. It was reported that two army men talked to the TMVP cadres and then walked away
. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, “The government is fully aware of the abductions but allows them to happen because it’s eager for an ally against the Tamil Tigers”. The Human Rights Watch further added that it would be impossible to transport abducted children without the complicity of the Sri Lankan Army
. In addition, civilians claimed seeing many TMVP cadres at Army checkpoints and claimed that they checked ID's of the people. The Human Rights Watch
further claimed that they saw a top Karuna Eastern commander riding atop an army personnel carrier. They also claimed that Armed Karuna cadre openly roamed the streets in Batticaloa district in sight of security forces, and in some cases they jointly patrolled with the police. According to UTHR, a local Human rights organization, two children who escaped from the TMVP later surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army
. The children were taken back to the TMVP camp allegedly by the Sri Lankan Army
and was later beaten to death. Another such incident happened in Trincomalee where the abducted children by the TMVP were taken to a Sri Lankan Navy
check point. Soon the Sri Lankan Navy
personnel came on motorcycles and escorted the Karuna men and their abducted children to the TMVP office. TMVP has also been alleged to have killed INGO
workers. Ragunathan Ramalingam, a worker for the International INGO
(World Concern), was asked to come to a Navy checkpoint. He was allegedly shot dead when he reached the check point. SLMM claimed that they saw TMVP pass through a checkpoint unchecked. It claimed that a white van, belonging to TMVP cadres, was transporting two 15 year old boys and four armed civilians passed through an Army check point unchecked. However, the police maintained that they were instructed to check all vehicles and arrest any armed civilians.
town was the only local council that TMVP contested under the banner of ruling United People's Freedom Alliance
.
The largest Tamil party Tamil National Alliance
totally boycotting these polls. United National party
(UNP) also boycotted the polls by telling candidates not to run but some UNP candidates names' showed up on the voting list. Both groups claim unfair elections took place. TNA claimed it wasn't safe for them to operate in the east because the TMVP group was armed. TMVP threatened TNA MP's and also captured alive family members of TNA MP prior to the elections. Human rights groups claim that TMVP used violence before the election and therefore the elections were "tainted". An independent candidate also claimed that people voted out of fear for the TMVP.
and other Tamil party 1 each. The TMVP members were contested under the UPFA banner and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) members contested under the UNP banner. The present TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
alias Pillayan has gained the highest number of 41,936 preferential votes from Batticaloa district.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It was formed by Karuna Amman, a former leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
, after he defected from the organization in 2004. Initially a paramilitary group that helped the Sri Lankan Government fight the Tamil Tigers, the TMVP was registered as a political party in 2007. Under deputy leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan , is the current Chief Minister of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a political party in Sri Lanka...
, they contested their first provincial elections in 2008
Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections, 2008
The Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections, 2008 was held on May 10, 2008 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council. Following the successful completion of local government elections in the Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka’s Elections Department announced on March 14 that the...
, winning a majority in the Eastern Provincial Council. Members of the TMVP continue to carry arms under the auspices of the Sri Lankan government, which they claim is for their own safety from the Tamil Tigers, who carry out repeated attacks against them. The group is believed to be working with the Sri Lankan army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
. They have been accused of human rights violation by local and international human rights organization.
History
The break-up between the LTTE and the BatticaloaBatticaloa
Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...
-based Karuna group occurred in March 2004. Karuna and others felt that Prabhakaran had become a dictator of a state that used Northern Tamils to oppress the Eastern Tamils and that Eastern Tamils were not given due recognition for "laying down their lives in disproportionate numbers for the northern leadership". Together with Indian-based Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front
Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front
The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front is a former Indian backed Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1987 as an amalgamation of splinter groups from other militant groups...
, TVMP has formed Tamileela Iykkiya Viduthalai Munnani as a united front. The purported aim and the motive of the party are to safeguard the rights of Tamils within the Eastern Province.
The president of TMVP was Kumaraswamy Nandagopan
Kumaraswamy Nandagopan
Kumaraswamy Nandagopan alias Ragu was the president of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal in Sri Lanka and advisor to Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan. He was a staunch Pillaiyan loyalist, and his appointment as TMVP president was opposed by Karuna...
until he was assassinated in November 2008 and the general secretary G.E. Gnanarajah. The third in command is Mangalan Master
Mangalan Master
Mangalan Master is the nom de guerre of a candidate for the TMVP contesting Polonnaruwa District for the United People's Freedom Alliance in Sri Lanka. He is a former LTTE cadre, third in line for TMVP leadership after defecting to the party of Colonel Karuna and a staunch Karuna partisan during...
Since its formation, the group worked with the Sri Lankan army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
to combat the Tamil Tigers. They have been accused of using children to combat the LTTE and have allegedly committed human rights violations in the East of the island. The TMVP, in conjunction with the Government of Sri Lanka on December 1, 2008 signed an action plan stating that they would cease the recruitment of child soldiers and that they would also release from combat all child soldiers.
Internal struggles
The TMVP has been affected by internal struggles between Colonel KarunaColonel Karuna
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan politician and former militant. After fighting for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for over 20 years, he rose to prominence as the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers.After giving up arms and...
and Pillaiyan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan , is the current Chief Minister of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a political party in Sri Lanka...
. Small skirmishes broke out between the Pillaiyan and Karuna factions with some fatalities in May 2007, October 2007, and in May 2008. However, Dheeban the Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
district leader of the TMVP, denied a split claiming "the split between Karuna and Pillaiyan is a mere media fabrication".
In mid-October 2008, Karuna cadres ransacked the office of Pillaiyan, leading to government consternation and intervention. That same week, the Karuna faction took over the "Thamil Alai" newspaper, the organ of the TMVP, which had been run by Pillaiyan in Karuna's absence. However in late October, Karuna "made it a point to emphasise that there were no differences between them". Due to the internecine feuds between varying factions of the TMVP, the Government of Sri Lanka has decided it would begin the disarmament of the feuding groups in early 2009. As tensions flared up in late 2009, the government began putting restrictions on the placement of TMVP political signs in cities of the East of Sri Lanka
Proposed name change
"Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Koddani" (Koodani meaning alliance) is a new Tamil political party in Sri LankaSri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
that has been proposed by Colonel Karuna
Colonel Karuna
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan politician and former militant. After fighting for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for over 20 years, he rose to prominence as the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers.After giving up arms and...
, as either a splinter group of, or a new name for the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal. However, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan , is the current Chief Minister of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a political party in Sri Lanka...
has denied that this has proposed, stating "When I met him (Karuna) and asked about this, he said that there was no such thing". The name change has been floated around because Karuna and related figures feel the word "Puligal" meaning Tiger, implies association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
. The TMVP 11 member politburo is currently deliberating on the issue, with Karuna threatening to start the new party if it is not approved. However Karuna spokesman D. Kamalanathan denied both that a name change would take place and that there was a rift within the party, attributing the rumours to those against the TMVP
General Rights Violations
The group has been accused the Human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organizations Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and NGOs of recruiting children, torture, assassinations and engaging in extortion in its war against the LTTE. Human Rights Watch claimed that from June 2006 to December 2006 they have forcefully recruited several hundred children
. The TMVP has also been accused of being involved in kidnappings for ransom of wealthy, predominantly Tamil, businessmen to raise money in Colombo and other towns. Some businessmen were allegedly killed because their family could not pay the ransom. Media has reported that these abductions were linked to the Security forces in these abductions, either directly facilitating them or providing a cover and not taking any action against them. One such abducted man alleged that while he was being transported, from his workplace in Colombo, his abduction vehicle came across Army checkpoints but was not rescued.
In 2006, the Tamil Human Rights group UTHR also accused the TMVP of taking part in death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
activity against civilians
Connection with the Sri Lankan State
The group is also believed to be actively working with the Sri Lankan Army. According to Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
in one incident, the children who were abducted by the TMVP cadres were being held in a store across a Sri Lankan military camp. The parents of the abducted children pleaded with the military but no actions were taken. It was reported that two army men talked to the TMVP cadres and then walked away
. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, “The government is fully aware of the abductions but allows them to happen because it’s eager for an ally against the Tamil Tigers”. The Human Rights Watch further added that it would be impossible to transport abducted children without the complicity of the Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
. In addition, civilians claimed seeing many TMVP cadres at Army checkpoints and claimed that they checked ID's of the people. The Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
further claimed that they saw a top Karuna Eastern commander riding atop an army personnel carrier. They also claimed that Armed Karuna cadre openly roamed the streets in Batticaloa district in sight of security forces, and in some cases they jointly patrolled with the police. According to UTHR, a local Human rights organization, two children who escaped from the TMVP later surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
. The children were taken back to the TMVP camp allegedly by the Sri Lankan Army
Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972...
and was later beaten to death. Another such incident happened in Trincomalee where the abducted children by the TMVP were taken to a Sri Lankan Navy
Sri Lankan Navy
-The Beginning and World War II:In January 1938 the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force was created with Commander W.G. Beauchamp as Commanding Officer under ordinance No I of 1937. On 31 August 1939 at the out set of World War II, the CNVF was mobilized for war duties...
check point. Soon the Sri Lankan Navy
Sri Lankan Navy
-The Beginning and World War II:In January 1938 the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force was created with Commander W.G. Beauchamp as Commanding Officer under ordinance No I of 1937. On 31 August 1939 at the out set of World War II, the CNVF was mobilized for war duties...
personnel came on motorcycles and escorted the Karuna men and their abducted children to the TMVP office. TMVP has also been alleged to have killed INGO
Ingo
Ingo is a first name in contemporary Scandinavia and Germany, and a historical name in France. It is the male version of the name Inga, used in the same region, and as a name for a tropical plant....
workers. Ragunathan Ramalingam, a worker for the International INGO
Ingo
Ingo is a first name in contemporary Scandinavia and Germany, and a historical name in France. It is the male version of the name Inga, used in the same region, and as a name for a tropical plant....
(World Concern), was asked to come to a Navy checkpoint. He was allegedly shot dead when he reached the check point. SLMM claimed that they saw TMVP pass through a checkpoint unchecked. It claimed that a white van, belonging to TMVP cadres, was transporting two 15 year old boys and four armed civilians passed through an Army check point unchecked. However, the police maintained that they were instructed to check all vehicles and arrest any armed civilians.
Batticaloa local council elections, March 2008
The local council elections of the Batticaloa district was held on March 10, 2008 after 10 years. The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) party won all the 9 councils with 70% of high majority of votes also the polling reported as peaceful. The BatticaloaBatticaloa
Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...
town was the only local council that TMVP contested under the banner of ruling United People's Freedom Alliance
United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka. The current leader of the United People's Freedom Alliance is Mahinda Rajapaksa and Susil Premajayantha is the general secretary of UPFA.The alliance was formed by:...
.
The largest Tamil party Tamil National Alliance
Tamil National Alliance
The Tamil National Alliance is a powerful minority Sri Lankan Tamil political alliance in Sri Lanka. It was formed as an amalgamation of moderate Tamil parties as well as number of former rebel groups...
totally boycotting these polls. United National party
United National Party
The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
(UNP) also boycotted the polls by telling candidates not to run but some UNP candidates names' showed up on the voting list. Both groups claim unfair elections took place. TNA claimed it wasn't safe for them to operate in the east because the TMVP group was armed. TMVP threatened TNA MP's and also captured alive family members of TNA MP prior to the elections. Human rights groups claim that TMVP used violence before the election and therefore the elections were "tainted". An independent candidate also claimed that people voted out of fear for the TMVP.
Eastern Provincial Council elections, May 2008
The Eastern Provincial Council elections was held on May 10, 2008. The 37 member provincial council election won by the ruling UPFA with the highest number of 20 seats, UNP 15 seats, JVPJVP
JVP may stand for:*Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, People's Liberation Front, a Sri Lankan Socialist Party.*Jerusalem Venture Partners, an Israeli-American media venture capital....
and other Tamil party 1 each. The TMVP members were contested under the UPFA banner and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) members contested under the UNP banner. The present TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan , is the current Chief Minister of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal , a political party in Sri Lanka...
alias Pillayan has gained the highest number of 41,936 preferential votes from Batticaloa district.