Tamil Eelam Liberation Struggle
by A.S. Balasingham 1983
Source: antonbalasingham.com;
Transcribed: for marxists.org by Laxshen.
1. — Introduction
2. — The origin of armed struggle
3. — The birth of the Tiger Movement
4. — Revolutionary ideology and warfare
5. — Who are the terrorists?
This short book is a tribute to the freedom fighters of Tamil Eelam, who sowed the seeds of freedom with their blood shed by the murderous fervor of state terrorists. In the political ideology of Tamil Eelam, the term 'terrorism' is being used by many people today in various meanings. Aside from the intense propaganda of the Sinhala capitalist state, which aims to discredit the liberation struggle of the Tamils of Eelam, the illogical interpretations of Tamil politicians and 'left' movements have also created great confusion among the Tamil-speaking people regarding the use of this term. Since this use of the term is particularly intended to insult and humiliate the armed struggle of our liberation movement, and since the Tamil Eelam national liberation struggle is taking on a high-level political form as an armed struggle, we are obliged to thwart this blatant propaganda of the state and politicians. So who are the real terrorists in this context? Who are the revolutionaries?
While explaining this to our people, we also wish to briefly explain in this publication the historical origin of our revolutionary movement, our form of struggle, war tactics, struggle goals, and ideals. With the aim of killing the freedom struggle that is currently raging in the Third World countries, world capitalism and imperialism are using the term terrorism. All the freedom struggles such as the socialist revolutionary movements and national liberation struggles that have arisen in these backward countries are portrayed as terrorism. From Mao to Mahabey, from Che Guevara to Arafat, all the national liberation fighters have been labeled as terrorists. World capitalism, which is trying to crush national liberation struggles and continue neocolonial exploitation, has always described the freedom struggle of the oppressed peoples and their revolutionary struggle methods as terrorism. The Irish people, the Palestinians, the Eritreans, the El Salvadorans, the black South Africans, the Basque people, the East Timorese, and so on, are labeled as terrorism for all the armed struggles of the world's nationalities. It is on this basis that we should understand why US President Reagan described the world's national liberation struggles as international terrorism. The term terrorism is very important in the ideological dictionary of US imperialism. It is the political principle that is the root cause of national liberation and socialist revolution. It is the most important ideological weapon of the US government, which is trying to completely destroy the armed insurrectionary struggles that are spreading like wildfire in Latin American countries. Beyond the false propaganda of terrorism, it is a world-known fact today that world imperialism is killing thousands of innocent people and playing a game of hide and seek. Not only imperialist and colonial countries, but also the indigenous capitalist governments and authoritarian regimes that support them are accusing local revolutionary fighters of being terrorists. In this regard, we are not surprised when the Sri Lankan ruling class approaches the Tamil Eelam national liberation struggle, the armed resistance movement that emerged in the historical evolution of that struggle, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which are leading that movement, on the basis of the theory of terrorism. Because in the mirror of capitalist ideology, all revolutionary forces are seen as the specter of terrorism. But it is strange to us that the Sinhala-Tamil left-wing movements that have adopted Marxism as their revolutionary ideology are also criticizing the Tamil Eelam armed revolutionary movement and its forms of struggle on the basis of the theory of terrorism. We know that Marxism views all socio-political forces and forms of material production from a historical perspective, that is, on the theoretical basis of historical materialism and dialectics. The Marxist-Leninist vision insists on the need to rigorously study real, realistic realities, in terms of their origin, development and impact. Lenin always emphasized "concrete analysis of concrete conditions". Marxists who fail to fully view historical political philosophy, its reality, its objective truth, and the field of contradictions in which it has prevailed, will not understand the forces of mass struggle and their revolutionary nature. It is because of this blindness that the old Marxists were unable to grasp the national-ethnic problem of the Eelam Tamils, nor the Sinhala chauvinist ideological contradictions. This was also the reason for their political downfall. Armed resistance in Tamil Eelam is a concrete historical political reality. A revolutionary force that reflects the development of the national liberation uprising of the Tamils of Eelam. It is not a Marxist approach to try to criticize this revolutionary political struggle force in its historical dimension, that is, in the historical development of the national liberation struggle of the Tamils of Eelam, in terms of the reactionary capitalist theory of terrorism. It is important for today's right-wing and left-wingers and Trotskyites to realize this.Lenin says that armed struggle is the highest form of political struggle, which arises at the highest stage. When democratic forms of struggle carried out through peaceful means fail miserably and lose the spiritual strength to mobilize the people's power, armed revolutionary struggle becomes an inevitable historical law. This truth becomes clear when we examine the development and maturity of the Tamil Eelam national liberation struggle historically.
For more than a quarter of a century, the Tamil national movement used peaceful and democratic methods of struggle to oppose the chauvinistic oppression of the Sri Lankan ruling class. Based on the philosophy of non-violence, all mass uprisings that found expression in peaceful ways were suppressed by the Sinhala armed forces. The Tamil people realized that state terrorism, which did not respect moral and political values, could not be confronted with the spiritual strength of the religions of love. The new generation of revolutionary youth realized that the Gandhian path was impractical for carrying forward the national freedom struggle. Realizing that the soft path would not be effective against reactionary violence, the new generation resorted to the politics of revolutionary violence.
Lack of employment opportunities, lack of educational opportunities, imposition of a foreign language, and brutality by the state forces – the Tamil youth, who were victims of such Sinhala chauvinist oppression, realized that their future prosperity depended on revolutionary politics. Realizing that the Tamil nation, trapped in national conflict, could only achieve complete freedom by seceding and forming an independent state on the basis of the right to self-determination, they jumped into revolutionary political violence to find expression for their desire for independence.
The political violence that erupted in Tamil Eelam in the early 1970s originated from the national conflict that arose from the brutal repression. This movement, which was born as a challenge to Sinhala state terrorism, should be seen as a revolutionary expression of the national liberation struggle of the Tamils of Eelam, a new development and continuation of that struggle. It can be said that this movement gave birth to a new revolutionary era in the struggle for political liberation of the Tamil nation.
While historically examining the origins of the revolutionary violent struggle of the Eelam Tamil youth, it is necessary to mention the importance and role of the Tamil Students' Union here. It is this organization that created the most radical political activists and the conditions for revolutionary political practice. The most outstanding liberation hero who emerged from this tradition was the young martyr named Sivakumaran. This young Tamil revolutionary hero, who challenged the Sinhala state power, especially the police, the machine of racism, created a heroic epic with his bravery, amazing courage, and sense of freedom. The flame of freedom lit by this fearless young man began to spread like a great fire that could not be extinguished throughout Tamil Eelam.
In the early seventies, the revolutionary impulse of the Tamil youth, which had spread uncontrollably, both individually and collectively, sought expression in a movement built on revolutionary principles and practices. Neither the Tamil political parties nor the left-wing movements had any program to give vent to the revolutionary energy that lay dormant in the rebellious youth.
The Tamil nationalist parties, trapped in the conservative capitalist ideology, were supporting the Parliament, a remnant of British imperialism. Although they fanned the flames of Tamil nationalism and talked passionately about the ideal of liberation, these parties did not present any concrete and practical program that would lead to the national independence of the Tamil nation. The old leftist parties were trapped in the Sinhala chauvinist ideology. As a result, they lacked the ability to understand the realistic and objective characteristics of the Tamil national liberation uprising, or the power to mobilize the revolutionary aspirations of the Tamil revolutionary youth. Faced with such a political vacuum and at the same time trapped by the revolutionary situation arising from unbearable oppression, the Tamil youth needed a revolutionary political movement that could lead them on the path of liberation. It was in this context that our movement was historically born in 1972.
In our movement, which operated under the name of the New Tamil Tigers in the early days, young revolutionaries with unwavering faith in armed revolution, a passion to break the oppression, and an unquenchable ideal of an equal Tamil Eelam – such determination and action rallied. Our movement, which had an urban guerrilla organization, a military structure, dazzling efficiency in struggle methods, and iron-like determination in its ideals, was established as the revolutionary center of the liberation uprising of the Tamil people of Eelam and the armed revolutionary liberation movement of the national liberation struggle of Tamil Eelam. In 1976, our movement was named the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The credit for starting our movement and building and developing it without restraint and control belongs to our leader Prabhakaran. He is the leader and commander of our movement today and is leading the movement.
The social, political and economic conditions arising from ethnic oppression strengthened the Tamil nationalist uprising among the Eelam Tamils. Initially, driven by the same nationalism and patriotism, we jumped into armed struggle.
Over time, we realized the importance and necessity of a revolutionary ideology and the policy plan and action plan guided by it. We organized a liberation movement, accepted Marxist-Leninist theory as essential to guide a revolutionary policy plan, and to strengthen the forms of armed struggle we have outlined and to advance the socialist revolution along with national liberation. With this political awareness, we have outlined revolutionary socialism as our revolutionary ideology.
Our political program of Socialist Tamil Eelam is a revolutionary program that combines the goals of the two-faced struggle. Since the Tamil national race, which is caught in national contradiction, must first be politically liberated from the oppressive system, the national liberation struggle takes precedence. However, it cannot be said that a people have achieved complete freedom only if a national race is politically liberated and gives birth to sovereignty.
Only if a society full of social inequality, economic contradictions and class differences forms a separate government can the people achieve liberation. Therefore, our policy program has been organized so that the goal of the national liberation struggle and the socialist revolution leading to the social and economic prosperity of the Tamil-speaking working-class and peasantry are combined.
The national independence of the Tamil people of Eelam, who are besieged by the Sinhala armed forces and targeted for genocide, cannot be achieved through peaceful and democratic struggles. This is a fact that is evident from the political history of Tamil Eelam. When democratic forms of struggle fail and freedom cannot be won by any other means, it is inevitable for the oppressed people to embrace revolutionary armed struggle. This is not a path that is outside the scope of Marxist-Leninist revolutionary politics. In accordance with historical realities, the respective peoples in their respective countries regulate their forms of struggle.
This becomes clear when we examine the recent histories of freedom struggles of the world's nationalities. Based on this, we are taking forward the armed struggle after carefully considering the development of our national liberation struggle, its dimensions and the realistic circumstances.
The guerrilla warfare program we have chosen is a form of mass struggle that socialist theory accepts. Marx also welcomed the use of guerrilla warfare as a form of national resistance by a mass of people who are occupied by foreign forces and subjected to an unjust regime. Armed struggle, says Lenin, "must be developed by the awakening and mobilizing power of socialism." In a revolutionary situation, Marxism-Leninism emphasizes the need for the proletariat to resort to armed violence to achieve its revolutionary goal. In the October Revolution, the Russian working class overthrew the state machine through armed uprising.
However, we must realize that the nature and dimensions of armed struggle are different in socialist revolution and national liberation. The mass armed uprising embodied in the Russian socialist revolution and the forms of armed struggle taken in the Chinese revolution involving national liberation are examples of this.
As Mao points out, there is a difference between a national liberation struggle and a class struggle. "In the past, all the people of a country, regardless of class or party, would lead the guerrilla war as part of the national liberation program. Therefore, its basis for analogy with the class struggle is broad," says Mao. Aside from the Chinese and Russian revolutions, recent national liberation struggles and the forms of armed struggle that emerged from them have not failed to bring about revolutionary changes in Marxist thinking about the guerrilla warfare program. "The Cuban revolution has stimulated revolutionary thinking in the old ideology of the Latin American mass struggle. "The Cuban Revolution clearly demonstrated that people have great power to liberate themselves from an oppressive regime through guerrilla struggle," says Che Guevara.
Even if we take the recent national liberation struggles of black Africans, we can see that armed struggle has become a force of mass struggle that mobilizes people and overturns colonialism.
Frantz Fanon, referring to the struggles of blacks against colonialism, said, "The violent struggle united these people into a whole. Because they were individuals linked by the bond of violence in a great chain. From the beginning, they had been operating as a part of a great violent organism that had been shaped by the violence of the aggressor. Through this bond, each group identified with one another. Thus, the future nation was already united. Armed struggle had the power to mobilize people. Because it has the power to lead people on the same path, to the same goal. It is not unknown to us that if only a few people are fighting with arms without the support of the masses, the struggle will not lead to national liberation, let alone socialist revolution. We are aware of the importance and necessity of expanding the armed struggle into a mobilized people's power and a mass armed uprising.Therefore, our struggle, which embraces revolutionary violence, is in no way contrary to the mass movement. The program of the LTTE movement is to establish the armed revolutionary struggle among the people and mobilize the masses in support of it. Only with the great power of the mobilized people's power can anything be achieved. We have unwavering faith that our struggle will reach a high level as a people's war.
Therefore, the fundamental objective of our political and military warfare plan is to strengthen and expand our long and comprehensive guerrilla war into a mass armed struggle for national liberation.
Having learned the historical facts of world liberation struggles, embracing the revolutionary ideal of socialist philosophy, and understanding the complex dimensions of the unique liberation struggles of our people, we are carrying forward the armed revolutionary struggle.
Sinhala-Tamil leftist movements, who do not understand this, are criticizing our war plan and form of struggle as terrorism, confusing the revolutionary youth. In the period before the Bolshevik Revolution, these leftists are trying to portray us as that demon, citing the example of Lenin denouncing the individual bandit groups and anarchist groups that emerged in Russia as terrorists. This is what we want to tell these comrades very clearly. You, who refuse to accept the armed rebellion that evolved in the political history of Tamil Eelam as a real political struggle force, and who try to distort the liberation ideal, struggle path, and methods of warfare of our movement that was born in that historical flow under the theory of terrorism, are completely contrary to the Marxist perspective of historical science.
If you constantly look at our urban guerrilla warfare operations in Tamil Eelam, which are aimed at destabilizing the state administration, destroying state properties, confronting and attacking state forces, crushing that mercenary army, and driving them out of Tamil soil, and their military implementation as a means of our long-term revolutionary warfare plan, through the stained glass of terrorism, you will not understand the reality and revolutionary nature of the Tamil Eelam liberation uprising, its historical course, and its development.
We have not failed to condemn the anti-social elements and individual terrorist groups who, while remaining outside the politics of revolution, seek to exploit the people for their own gain. We also make it our duty to protect our people from these anti-social elements. It is because of this purity of ideals and sense of sacrifice that the people's power is rallying behind us.
When you mock us by using the term terrorism, you seem not to realize that it is strengthening the reactionary racist propaganda of the Sinhala ruling class! This propaganda of yours is diverting the atrocities of state terrorism and polluting the liberation struggle of our people. It pains us that you, who claim to have embraced progressive politics, do not portray the oppressive atrocities of a capitalist tyrannical state as terrorism, but only try to label our armed struggle against that state as terrorism.
But our people are not unaware of where terrorism comes from, in what forms it comes, who unleashed this terrible monster on the Tamil race, and what is the cruelty of its tyranny. They do recognize the terrorist demons they encounter on the streets every day. The bloody scars of terrorist atrocities run deep into their souls.
Political violence is of two types. One is reactionary. The other is revolutionary. One is to perpetuate oppression and slavery. The other is to sow seeds for liberation and enlightenment. One is a weapon of the oppressors. The other is a weapon of the oppressed. Terrorism is the reactionary, immoral, and oppressive violence of the oppressors. Progressive, moral, and liberation-oriented violence of the oppressed is not terrorism. It is a revolutionary violent struggle against terrorism. Violence consists of two polar opposing forces of the law of contradiction. One represents destruction, the other creation. One represents terrorism, the other represents libertarianism. Violence that sets freedom as an ideal and is used against unrighteousness is morality. In this dimension, violence becomes a weapon to establish basic human rights.
- Terrorism is the violence unleashed by the Sinhala ruling class on our people. - Terrorism is the act of killing, shooting, and burning our innocent people alive. - Raping and defiling our mothers and sisters is terrorism. - Burning our temples, burning our libraries, and setting fire to our press is terrorism. - Looting our shops and burning down markets is terrorism. - Hunting our youth, imprisoning them, torturing them, and killing them is terrorism. - Entering homes and bragging about our people, chasing and beating those walking on the streets, and robbing travelers is terrorism. - Imprisoning and torturing clerics and academics who speak out for human rights is terrorism. - Taking away citizenship, language rights, education rights, cultural rights, and traditional lands, and thus planning the genocide of our race, is the greatest act of terrorism. The Sinhala chauvinist ruling class has unleashed real terrorism on our people. We call this ungodly violence state terrorism. The armed forces are the engine of this state terrorism. We call those who oppress the people through the dominance of the armed forces state terrorists. Such a terrorist group is ruling Sri Lanka today. - Are we terrorists who fight against this state terror machine? - Are we terrorists who fight for the dignity of our people, who suffer from slavery and humiliation? - Will our struggle to make the flame of freedom of the Eelam Tamil people shine throughout the world be terrorism? We are not terrorists who fight against injustice, colonization, and oppression. We are revolutionary fighters fighting for the liberation of an oppressed people. Tamil political leaders who are enslaved by state terrorists should also realize this truth. We are the children of fire, born in that great sacrifice of freedom, in the fire of nationalism that you lit that day. We will forever burn as the fire of freedom. No one can extinguish the fire of freedom that burns within us.Long Live Tamil Eelam!