Rajesh Sundaram

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

NDTV ASSIGNMENT TO TAMIL EELAM ( Circa 2004)

My dear friend Dhanpal sent me a bunch of old photographs of our trip to Tamil Eelam in 2004. These have photographs taken with the late S P Thamilchelvan political head of the LTTE after an interview at the LTTE's former stronghold of Killinochi.

He spoke at length about how India has nothing to fear from a militarily strong LTTE. " All our weapons are to protect the legitimate rights of the Tamil people here. India has nothing to fear."

He said.

The interview was coordinated by Daya Master and among the people present at the Tamil Tigers' peace secretariat was Thamilchelvan's translator George and three of his body guards.

Dhanpal asked Thamilchelvan to sit behind a photograph of LTTE chief, V Prbhakaran with a Tamil Eelam flag in the frame before he rolled the interview.

One of his body guards was asked to take a picture after the interview. Dhanpal held the Tamil Eelam flag in his hand respectfully as the photo was taken.

Thamilchelvan played the part of a statesman when we met him.. A measured, calibrated diplomat's speech, and a voice that was firm and serene at the same time. He always had a smile on his face...the smile of a saint.

He was a feared combatant, one of the most trusted by Prabhakaran. Served as the commander of Jaffna during the time of the IPKF.

During that trip we also visited the HQ of the Tamil Eelam police. The police cars where straight from LAPD and the policemen seemed well armed and trained. Unlike the rest of the sub continent the police force of this "non-state" did not wear a khaki uniforms.

They worked under a DGP and where divided into three divisions, traffic, law enforcement and detective.

We also visited the Tamil Eelam courts.