From the Editor
T. Sabaratnam
Mr. T. Sabaratnam wrote a two-volume historical biography of Velupillai Pirapaharan and his time from 2002-2005 that was posted on the Sangam website. This history is of the period before the war began and of the early stages of the war. It dwells on the root causes and the background of those involved, along with their actions, all of which he often covered himself as a news reporter.
First, as most of this material is not available elsewhere from a Tamil point of view or in such detail, second, because many of the chapters have become corrupted in our archives and third, because most of the issues discussed remain alive today, we have decided to repost these chapters.
T. Sabaratnam was a long-time news reporter who had intimate access to most of the players in this history, which gave him a unique position as an historian of the period. Mr. Sabaratnam wrote Volume 3 of the series, which dealt with the period after 1985, before his death in 2010, but Vol.3 did not make it onto this website, much to our regret.
Volume One is covers 1954-1983. Volume Two covers 1983-1986.
Pirapaharan
by T. Sabaratnam, 2003-2005
Volume One
Chapter 1: Why didn’t he hit back?
Chapter 2: Going in for a Revolver
Chapter 3: The Unexpected Explosion
Chapter 4: The Tamil Mood Toughens
Chapter 5: Tamil Youths Turn Assertive
Chapter 6: Birth of Tamil New Tigers
Chapter 8: First Military Operation
Chapter 9: TNT Matures into the LTTE
Chapter 10: The Mandate Affirmed
Chapter 11: The Mandate Ratified
Chapter 12: Moderates Ignore Mandate
Chapter 13: Militants Come to the Fore
Chapter 14: The LTTE Comes into the Open
Chapter 15: The Ban, J.R.’s Gift
Chapter 16: Wresting Weapons from the Enemy
Chapter 17: Sinhala-Tamil Tension Mounts
Chapter 18: Tamils Lose Faith in Commissions
Chapter 19: Balasingam Enters the Scene
Chapter 20: Jaffna Turned Torture Chamber
Chapter 21: The Split of the LTTE
Chapter 22: The Burning of the Jaffna Library
Chapter 23: Who Gave the Order?
Chapter 24: Tamils Still Back Moderates
Chapter 25: Parliament Discuses Ways to Kill Amir
Chapter 26: The First Attack on the Army
Chapter 27: Amirthalingam Taken for a Ride
Chapter 28: RAW Meets Pirapaharan
Chapter 29: The Indian Interest
Chapter 30: LTTE Guerrillas in Action
Chapter 31: The Death of the First Hero
Chapter 32: The Return of Pirapaharan
Chapter 33: Knocking Out the Base
Chapter 34: Tamils Follow Militant Leadership
Chapter 36: ‘We Are Going to Break Heads’
Chapter 37: The Heroic Death of Seelan
Chapter 6: Indira’s Telephone Call
*Photo-by-DushiYanthini-Kanagasabapathipillai