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Fourteen years after the Sri Lankan government announced his death, a veteran Tamil nationalist leader claimed in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, on Monday that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, is doing well and said a conducive atmosphere prevails for him to appear now.
The Sri Lankan defence ministry dismissed the claim as a "joke", and referred to DNA proof to assert that Prabhakaran was killed way back in 2009.
In a press conference, Pazha Nedumaran, a noted Tamil nationalist leader, prefixed his declaration as a 'true announcement' and said the international (political) atmosphere and fierce opposition to the Rajapaksas by the Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka have created the right conditions for the leader of the Eelam Tamils, Prabhakaran to emerge.
Nedumaran's assertion, however, did not find acceptance with even well-known sympathisers of the cause of Tamil nationalism, including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko.
While Prabhakaran, the chief of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was killed in 2009, marking the end of the decades long civil war in Sri Lanka between the Army and the LTTE, Tamil Nadu leaders toeing the Tamil nationalism ideology had time and again claimed over the years that the slain leader was still alive.
MDMK chief Vaiko too had years ago said Prabhakaran was alive. Such assertions were seen as an attempt to keep alive the hopes of Tamils -- in Sri Lanka and the diaspora -- to secure justice.
Vaiko, in a statement, said a few fighters who stood beside 'Thalaivar' (chief) Prabhakaran in the battlefield to retrieve Tamil Eelam lived in various parts of the world now.
"Such fighters, who are in touch with me, have not confirmed Annan (elder brother) Pazha Nedumaran's statement," the Rajya Sabha MP said. Still, if 'Desiya Thalaivar' (Tamil national leader) Prabhakaran is doing well, there cannot be anything else that could bring more joy to Tamils living across the world, he said.
Nedumaran, asserting that the LTTE leader is doing well, said the announcement would end 'planned' suspicions spread about the leader. Prabhakaran is all set to soon announce a plan for the dawn of the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, he said.
He appealed to Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Tamils living in all other parts of the world to stand together and extend him their full support. Till such time the LTTE was powerful, they did not allow any forces inimical to India to find a toehold in the regions held by them in the island nation, he said.
They not only opposed such forces but also have not received any support from such nations opposed to India, he added.
Nedumaran appealed to the central government to take steps to prevent China from making Sri Lanka a platform for opposition to India. The dragon nation should also be prevented from dominating the Indian Ocean areas.
'Eelam' in Tamil denotes the homeland of the Tamil people. After the LTTE was vanquished and Prabhakaran killed, Indian authorities also helped Sri Lanka in establishing Prabhakaran's identity to fulfill legal requirements.
The Tamil Nadu police had provided information on identifying Prabhakaran. The state police had detained Prabhakaran in the early 1980s in connection with a case and they had identifying information on him like fingerprints.
Following a DNA test, Sri Lanka had confirmed that Prabhakaran had been killed. Videos and photographs showing a dead Prabhakaran with some visible injuries were also made available by the island nation.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's defence ministry on Monday dismissed Nedumaran's claim as a joke.
"It is confirmed that he was killed on 19 May 2009. The DNA has proved it,” Colonel Nalin Herath, Sri Lanka's defence ministry spokesman told PTI in Colombo.
In his reaction, filmmaker turned politician and Nam Tamizhar Katchi chief Seeman, known for his sympathies for the cause of Tamil nationalism, wondered if Prabhakaran would have safely escaped by giving up on the life of his son Balachandran, who was also killed.
"Our Annan (elder brother, Prabhakaran) had declared that he will not leave the country at any cost and he valorously fought. Do you think that our Annan is a coward to escape to protect his life alone," he asked reporters in Erode.
He wanted to know if Prabhakaran, if he had been alive, would be quiet till now, nearly 15 years after the civil war in Sri Lanka ended, during the phase of which Tamils underwent untold sufferings. "He is not the one to declare ahead that he will be coming. He has taught us action before words. There is no need to make unnecessary confusion. They say that he (Prabhakaran) will one day appear before the people. Let us talk when that happens."
The LTTE was fighting for an independent state for Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and eastern provinces.