Summary
Contents
Subject index
This is the story of the man who defined the armed struggle for an independent Eelam for over three decades and who lived by the gun and died by the gun—Velupillai Prabhakaran. A home-grown guerilla who built the LTTE into a ruthless war machine and controlled its world-wide network from his hideout and ruled territories under his control with an iron fist; who defied the world and eliminated whoever came in his way, including former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi; who had fighters ready to kill and die in thousands for him … yet he failed, leaving the future of Sri Lankan Tamils a big question mark.
The book is a first-person account by the author based on his innumerable visits to Sri Lanka during its turbulent years. He looks at the Prabhakaran era, a critical phase in the country's history, objectively, without being judgmental.
When Colombo Was in Flames
When Colombo Was in Flames
Colombo was burning when I landed at Katunayake airport around midnight on 28 July 1987. I did not know then that this was going to be the first of many visits to that strife-torn island nation for the next 22 years.
The reason for the ferment was an agreement that the then Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and the then Sri Lankan President, J. R. Jayewardene, were to sign the next day to settle the decades-long ethnic issue that divided the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils.
The agreement was a product of nearly four years of arduous negotiations involving the Sri Lankan government and the various Tamil moderate and militant groups with India acting as a mediator. Its ...
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