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INCLUDING PARANTHAN RAJAN
By D.B.S.JEYARAJ
In what appears to be a very puzzling development eight high ranking leaders of the pro - Indian Tamil
militant group Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front including its leader Gnanapiragasam
Gnanasegeram alias Paranthan Rajan have been arrested and detained in India since Dec 5th. What is
perplexing about the incident is the fact that Paranthan Rajan and other ENDLF members have been
living since 1990 in India without any problem as the group originally created by the Indian intelligence
agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is regarded as being totally subservient to New Delhi.
Various explanations and assessments are currently circulating among knowledgeable circles in India
about the reasons behind these developments though the media has virtually blacked out the story so
far in India. The view currently gaining ground is that the ENDLF's recent tie up with former tiger eastern
commander Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan alias Karuna is the primary factor in this confusing
scenario. It is also pointed out that the arrests were carried out by the Tamil Nadu state police acting
under the orders of Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram and not by any Central Government agency. The
arrested ENDLF men are housed at a special camp in Chengalpattu in what is termed as protective
custody.
According to ENDLF sources the intelligence division of the state police known as "Q" branch had
swooped down on the ENDLF office at Kodambakkam in the Tamil Nadu capital of Chennai on Dec 5th
and arrested five top ENDLF leaders who were staying there. Simultaneously the "Q" cops had raided
Gnanasegeram alias Paranthan Rajan's house at Valasaravaakkam and arrested the ENDLF leader and
his three bodyguard - aides. The Police also went in search of Paranthan Rajan's brother Gnanarajah
but he was not in his house at KK nagar. He remains a free man still.
All eight were first taken to the Police headquarters where Director - General of Police Alexander the
newly appointed head of Tamil Nadu "Q" branch "interviewed" them. They were informed that an
assassination squad from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was now in India to bump off
Paranthan Rajan and other important ENDLF leaders. They were being given special protection the
ENDLF was informed. The Policemen also wanted them to answer some questions regarding future plans
of the ENDLF.
Paranthan Rajan had protested vehemently and said that neither his men nor he needed special
protection. In any event arresting them unceremoniously and hauling them off to the Police station was
not the correct procedure to provide protection. The ENDLF chief and his men also refused to answer
any questions unless they were released. They also wanted to know under what right they were being
detained and wanted to be released immediately. If not they demanded a lawyer.
With the mood turning sour all the Sri Lankan Tamils were put in a van and taken to Kanchipuram in the
district adjacent to Chennai. They were informed then that none of them had valid documents to stay in
India as their visas had expired. They were all foreigners "overstaying" beyond the legally permissible
period they were entitled to it was charged. Therefore they were all being charged under the Foreigners
Act it was stated. The Indian Foreigners Act is a draconian piece of law under which a foreigner could be
detained without recourse to bail for up to one year. Among those Sri Lankans detained under this law
have been eminent educationist RR. Sivalingam, Journalist S. Sivanayagam and EROS leader Shankar
Raji.
Paranthan Rajan according to ENDLF sources had remonstrated saying that all of them had valid
documents with duly renewed visas. Paranthan Rajan wanted the Police to contact certain officials in the
RAW who would vouch for them. The Cops however refused and whisked them off first to the
Chengalpattu sub - jail. Two days later they were taken to the special camp housing Sri Lankan refugees
at Chengalpattu. The eight ENDLF 'ers were housed in a separate, well guarded house within camp
premises. They were told that they were being placed under special protective custody.
After being held incommunicado for a few days the Tamil Nadu Police began relaxing restrictions
gradually. A notable change was that family members were allowed to visit them for all hours of day
without restrictions. Moreover the Police themselves made transport arrangements for the families to
visit. They were allowed to bring in outside food and also cook at the place of detention. While there is
friendly conversation between the ENDLF and their custodians Paranthan Rajan has consistently
refused to be questioned.
One reason for the relaxation of some rules could have been the arrival in India of ENDLF leader
Veeraiya Ramaraj alias Mustapha from Britain. Ramaraj who runs the Tamil Broadcasting Corporation
Radio in London was at one time the general secretary of the ENDLF. He is now a Central committee
member and virtually directs overseas operations of the ENDLF. Ramaraj is said to enjoy a close rapport
with RAW and also influential Indian politicians. Ramaraj has been staying for weeks in India trying to
contact leaders at Central and state level to get the ENDLF men out.
As far as Central Government and intelligence officials were concerned they denied that they were in
anyway responsible for the ENDLF predicament. The arrest and protective custody was done by the
state police at the behest of the chief minister herself. Even the state level action had a "noble" motive it
was asserted. The ENDLF men were being held for their own good as a tiger squad was in India to bump
them off it was said. By linking up with Karuna the ENDLF had complicated matters and endangered
itself. Besides the state government did not want any "Eelam Tamil violence" to occur on Tamil Nadu soil.
While the ENDLF would be given protection they should not promote or provoke violence on Indian soil.
The origins of the ENDLF are quite interesting. Paranthan Rajan was initially in the PLOTE and
underwent PLO training in Lebanon. He was tipped to be PLOTE military commander but the supreme
leader Umamaheswaran preferred Jotheeswaran alias Kannan. Later a disgruntled Rajan left the PLOTE
with his loyalists. This group along with splinter factions of the TELO and EPRLF formed a motley group
known as Three Stars. The three stars denoted the three original groups from which the dissidents broke
off.
Later the PLOTE fragmented further with a faction under Eeswaran also breaking off. The EPRLF too
split in two with one faction under Padmanabha and the other under Douglas Devananda. The RAW in
1987 got the three stars and the Douglas and Eeswaran factions to form a single outfit known as the
ENDLF. After the Indo - Lanka accord Douglas split with Paranthan Rajan and formed his own Eelam
Peoples Democratic Pary (EPDP). The ENDLF came under Paranthan Rajan's sole control.
Gnanasegeram alias Thangarajan alias Rajan hailed from Neduntheevu but was resident for long at
Paranthan thereby earning the name Paranthan Rajan.
He was originally a TULF Youth wing member and had been jailed without trial for many months. Later he
joined the LTTE and then left with Umamaheswaran to form the PLOTE. He underwent Middle East
training but was arrested after a shoot out at Periyathambanai. He survived the Welikade massacre of
1983 and then escaped during the Batticaloa jail break. After splitting from the PLOTE he went on to
lead the ENDLF.
The ENDLF faithfully followed Indian guidance and participated at the 1988 North - East Provincial
Council elections. An ENDLF nominee Ganeshalingam became a Provincial minister Packiyanathan
Rajaratnam alias Mano master succeeded Ganeshalingam when the latter was assassinated by the
tigers. After the Indian army quit Sri Lanka in 1990 the ENDLF too followed suit and went over. ENDLF
cadre took up residence in Orissa, and various parts of Tamil Nadu and also Bangalore in Karnataka.
Paranthan Rajan himself went to Bangalore and started an orphanage cum school there. It was named
Mother Indira Gandhi International academy and is officially sanctioned in Karnataka. Rajiv Gandhi
himself ceremonially opened it. It has about 300 students of whom around 50 are orphans. Almost
everybody is of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. Though it has received Karnataka and Tamil Nadu assistance
the major part of finances are from Tamil expatriate donations.
The ENDLF had one MP Srinivasagam in the 1989 - 1994 Parliament. Thereafter it became virtually
dormant in Sri Lanka. The ENDLF maintained a very low key political presence in India. In 1996 two
ENDLF stalwarts Mano master and Mustapha went to Kilinochchi and offered to link up with the LTTE.
The tigers suspected a RAW hand behind the move and rejected it. Gradually the ENDLF established
offices in Chennai too but maintained a low profile.
The ENDLF hit the headlines again after the Karuna rebellion in the LTTE. The ENDLF established
contact with the beleaguered Karuna and offered assistance. A desperate Karuna grasped it as a
drowning man would clutch a straw. Soon a political party was announced with Karuna as President and
Gnanarajah as Secretary. The latter was Rajan's elder brother. Then a joint front comprising Karunas
party and ENDLF were formed. The joint leaders were Karuna and Rajan. The secretary was
Gnanarajah and coordinator Mano master.
The ENDLF became very active and visible. When Mano master sent a letter to Norway the
Kodambakkam address was used openly. Much publicity was also given to a lobbying mission by the
ENDLF in New Delhi. The ENDLF sought Indian support and pledged to raise 3500 cadre to fight the
tigers. 500 were ENDLF cadre while the rest were supposedly Karuna's boys. Mano master who played
an important part in interacting with Indian officials then went over to Colombo to do political work. He
disappeared amid mysterious circumstances and all available evidence suggsts that Mano is currently in
the hands of the LTTE.
The ENDLF now engaged in a strategic partnership with Karuna went "bonkers" in the last week of
November. A parallel great heroes show by Karuna was enacted. Karuna read an address to the people
in a studio that was videoed. A puerile attempt was made to portray that Karuna was addressing his
people in Batticaloa whereas most people knew the whole exercise was a fake. Karunas speech was
distributed worldwide via the anti - tiger media.
In Tamil Nadu the ENDLF made 150 video cassettes and printed 30 thousand copies of Karunas speech.
Posters derogatory of LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapakaran depicting him as a modern Hitler also
appeared on the walls in Tamil Nadu urban areas where Sri Lankan Tamils resided in sufficient numbers.
The cassettes and leaflets were distributed widely including Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps. These
activities caused much tension as people sympathetic toards the LTTE resented this action and
protested. This apparently led to loud arguments and even fisticuffs in some places.
The ENDLF had been foolishly provocative to the extent of distributing the Karuna leaflets at a MDMK
rally addressed by Gopalaswamy or Vaiko. It is well known that Vaiko and his party are tiger supporters.
The ENDLF action had led to much friction between Tamil Nadu supporters of Vaiko and the followers of
Rajan.
The next twist was when three Sri Lankan Tamil youths were detained on suspicion in Tamil Nadu. They
claimed to be Karuna loyalists and said they were going to join up with Paranthan Rajan. Indian officials
felt something was wrong and interrogated them further. Suspicion was reinforced that the trio was
actually a tiger hit squd to eliminate Paranthan Rajan and other ENDLF top men. It was also felt that most
detals of ENDLF movements in Tamil Nadu would be revealed by Mano master to the tigers when Pottu
Ammans minions tortured the ENDLF secretary.This sent alarm bells ringing.
According to a well - informed Indian journalist there were enough reasons for Tamil Nadu chief minister
Jayalalitha and the Police to be concerned. The people of Tamil Nadu were sick of Eelam Tamil militants
and related violence on their soil after the brutal murder of Rajiv Gandhi and 18 others in
Sriperumbhudoor in 1991 . They did not want any intra - Tamil violence to spill over as in the case of
EPRLF leaders like Pathmanabha, Yogasangaree and Kirubaharan being killed by the tigers in Chennai
in 1990. It is felt in some circles that the laxity shown by then chief minister Muttuvel Karunanidhi over
Padmanabhas killing paved the way for Rajiv's killing later. Jayalalitha has made much political capital of
this.
So if violence occurred again on Tamil Nadu soil and the ENDLF men were gunned down by the LTTE it
would reflect badly on Jayalalithas government. Also the Tamil Nadu Police basking in the glory of having
killed Veerappan would lose prestige.Jayalalithas arch rival Karunanidh's DMK was now part of the
Central Government. She fears that he is looking for an excuse to get her government dismissed. Law
and order is a subject under state government. So if intra - Tamil militant violence flared up Karunanidhi
could press for dismissal of government and dissolution of State assembly on those grounds. It was
imperative that Paranthan Rajan be protected.
While this concern is understandable the question that arises is as to why Rajan and others should be
placed under house arrest to be protected? Also why the tough and high handed manner of arrest? It is
no secret that Jayalalitha is no fan of Sri Lankan Tamils in the state let alone militants. They are looked
down upon as undesirable. If Jayalalitha had a free hand she would not have allowed the ENDLF to
remain on Tamil Nadu soil. Since the ENDLF is sponsored by the RAW as part of a grand design she
could not do so. Nevertheless she seems to have exercised her prerogative and detained the ENDLF
hierarchy.
This could be due to another reason. Even the RAW must be appalled at the ENDLF blunder of flaunting
their links with Karuna. The connection was one that should have been played down till an opportune
time. The ENDLF's provocative action of inciting friction in Tamil Nadu with pro - tiger elements was
unwelcome even to the Central Government. Besides India does not want to encourage Sri Lankan Tamil
militant activity on Indian soil in any way. Affording protection was one thing but for the political refugees
doing open politics was intolerable. So it may well be that the Central agencies too approved of state
action in detaining Rajan and co. With this move pro - Karuna ENDLF activity too has ceased in Tamil
Nadu.
There is also the Karuna factor. Indian intelligence may be interested in protecting Karuna from the
LTTE's wrath at present and keep him safe for future use if and when necessary. It is doubtful that India
would like to draw attention to this and give credence to charges of New Delhi harbouring Karuna. The
ENDLF's unnecessary pro - Karuna campaign in Tamil Nadu places India in an unfavourable light. Also
even if India shelters Karuna it would not like large numbers of pro - Karuna tigers to arrive in Tamil
Nadu. Furthermore given the comparative ease with which LTTE intelligence seems toimpersonate,
infiltrate or convert Karunas followers there is much potential danger in allowing cadres to come over.
Restricting the ENDLF scope for action could in turn help check this phenomenon.
It could be assumed therefor that the Tamil Nadu Police action has the sanction of both Centre and state
though law and order is under the Tamil Nadu government. The ENDLF seems to have brought this upon
itself by the unnecessary publicity it sought to gain and due to its ill advised provocative stance. This
stems from gravely miscalculating the parameters of Indian support to it as well as misjudging Indias
current policies. The ENDLF hierarchy has breached norms of acceptable political etiquette in India. It is
now beginning to pay the price.Penance is required for redemption. [Sunday Leader]
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