Velupillai Prabhakaran (sometimes spelt Velupillai PirapaharanNovember 26, 1954) is the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization fighting for Tamil self-rule in North-East Sri Lanka. He was born in Velvettithurai, Sri Lanka. In 1972, at the age of 18, he founded an organization named Tamil New Tigers(TNT). In May 5, 1976, the TNT was renamed Liberation Tigers of Tamil-Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.

Prabhakaran is widely known as a militant strategist in the mold of Mao Ze Dong and Vo Nguen Giap, though his LTTE has been designated as a terrorist organization in a few countries, including the USA and India. In 1990s, India sought Prabhakaran's extradiction half-heartedly as a political ploy, over his alleged role in the 1991 assassination of ex-Indian prime minister Ragiv Gandhi. But among a significant number of the Tamil people, he is viewed as a freedom fighter who fights against the racial suppression in Sri Lanka.

Notable words

• It is the plight of the Tamil people that compelled me to take up arms. I felt outraged at the inhuman atrocities perpetrated against an innocent people. - The Week , March 1986

External links

• Tamil Eelam Home Page - Official home page
• The Pirabakaran Phenomenon - by Sachi Sri Kantha. In defence of Prabhakaran.
• Inside an Elusive Mind ISBN 1-59121-003-8 by Narayan Swamy - A biography of Prabhakaran
• Website about the Tamil Tigers
• The enigma of Prabhakaran - Article by BBC
• Wanted by Interpol - Interpol data on Prabhakaran