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.
From PM to President
From PM to President
One of the first acts of Chandrika upon becoming Prime Minister was to lift the embargo on movement of essential goods to Jaffna, thus earning the goodwill of the Tamil people and bringing moral pressure on the LTTE to start negotiations. The LTTE made a beginning and even one round of talks was held in Jaffna before the presidential election in November 1994. But the contempt the LTTE had for the democratic process was evident soon after when it assassinated UNP's presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake during the campaign in October, much to the embarrassment of Chandrika who had to contend with armed forces which did not take kindly to peace parleys after having had a bitter experience of ...
- Loading...