Qoting from Adele Balasingham's "Women fighters of Liberation Tigers," first published in 1993." The emergent Aspirations of Tamil women to join the armed struggle brought increasing pressure on the LTTE leadership to step up its policy of inducting more women into the armed struggle. Young women demanded their right to self-defence and their right to exercise their patriotic sentiments. The LTTE leadership, committed to the emancipation and equality of women, welcomed such demands and expanded its military programme for training women."
20 yeal old Malati (Not in picture) was the first woman fighter of the LTTE to die in battle. She died on 10 October, 1987 in Kopay in a confrontation with the IPKF. She was injured and consumed cyanide before she could be captured.
This and the previous pictures have been sourced from my friend Nilanjan Chowdhury.
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