His Royal Highness, The Tamil Tiger - noval

by

Kathir Bala Sundaram

A Word from the Author

The new millennium dawned on a world shaken by the emergence of two violent terror organizations: the Tamil Tigers and Al-Qaida. Al-Qaida is a byproduct of the Tamil Tigers. The Srilankan forces ruthlessly defeated the seemingly invincible Tamil Tigers at the Battle of Mullivaikkal in 2009. A fact that came to light was that Sri Lanka government received military aid from more than twenty-five countries in order to finally crush the Tamil Tigers, the world’s deadliest terrorists.

 This novel, ‘His Royal Highness the Tamil Tiger’, explores only a minute portion of the Tamil Tigers’ atrocities and carnage they inflicted on the Tamil community—their own brothers and sisters—in Jaffna from 1972 to 2009. Jaffna rests in the northern part of the pearl shaped island of Sri Lanka. The island, sitting somewhat snug to the southern tip of India and within the Indian Ocean, suffered terribly at the hands of the Tamil Tigers.

This historical novel is about a ruthless dictator, His Royal Highness the Tamil Tiger, who as an eighteen year old boy was known only for his proficiency in killing scampering squirrels with a slingshot. Like many dictators, his rise to power began innocently enough. As a school dropout, he began a military resistance group in 1976 to fight for the freedom of the minority ethnic Tamil community suffering heavily under the genocidal Sri Lanka government since it gained its independence from the British in 1948. Thus, with the blessing and support of his Tamil people, the future Royal Highness established a power base in the Vanni region under the noble guise of seeking justice and autonomy. Once in power, however, he assumed the title of ‘His Royal Highness the Tamil Tiger.’

His Royal Highness had a dream of creating a Tamil Kingdom in the Northeastern part of the Sri Lanka island where he could rule without being challenged by the Sri Lankan government and its forces. But it doesn’t take long for this egocentric ruler of Vanni to turn against his own people, subjecting the law abiding Tamil nation to untold hardships. Many of his soldiers and high ranks were little better than he—poor dropouts and duds for the most part who revelled in their sudden position of power over their fellow man. The wealthy and academia of the region whom these poor boys with guns hated vehemently suffered mightily at their hands. Also, His Royal Highness, completely and mercilessly wiped out those who possessed divergent political faith.

As a result, Jaffna folk began fleeing abroad to escape from the atrocities of both the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan forces. Consequently, the population of Jaffna dwindled from 835,000 to 500,000 including the newborns within the span of two decades.  

Despite the stalwart support by the Tamil Diaspora, the blatant murders and killings became a general occurrence, and it didn’t take long for the Tamil community to hate and detest the upstart Vanni ruler. Powerful countries such as the USA, the UK, Canada, and even India quickly branded His Royal Highness as the most vicious and daring terrorist on the planet.  

The Cease Fire Agreement

This story takes place during the Cease Fire Agreement facilitated between the government of Sri Lanka and His Royal Highness the Tamil Tiger of Vanni on February 22^nd, 2002. During this period, the Vanni ruler imposed a heinous tax system in Jaffna between 2002 and 2006. The oppression reached new heights as he threw into prison anyone who protested or failed to pay the taxes. His Royal Highness’ brutality and murderous inclinations crop up from time to time in this story to expose the atrocities and carnage he inflicted upon his own people—people he once proclaimed his brothers and sisters.  

To understand the story more fully, key parts of the Cease Fire Agreement are given here:

-        Paragraph 1.7 – “The Parties of this agreement shall not move munitions, explosives or military hardware into the area controlled by the other Party.”

-        Paragraph 1.11 – “Individual combatants shall be permitted to cross the border to visit family and friends in areas controlled by the other Party provided they are unarmed and wearing civilian clothing.”

-        Paragraph 1.13 – “Fifty unarmed Tigers carrying the proper identification papers, for the purpose of political work, may be permitted freedom of movement in areas of the North and East areas controlled by the Sinhala Hegemony. The right of the Sinhala forces to deny access to military installations and areas will remain in effect.”

Jaffna and Vanni

When the Cease Fire Agreement came into force, Jaffna was under control of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Jaffna, with its many schools, colleges and a university, is considered to be the citadel of Tamil culture, language, traditions, and civilization. The Jaffna peninsula is a thickly populated region with an abundance of available fresh water, limestone outcrops, red soil, rust colored alkaline soil, ample agricultural lands, and large palmyra groves.

Vanni is situated to the south of Jaffna and remained under control of the Tamil Tigers. Amid the jungles and forests of the region, the sparse population is scattered through hundreds of agricultural settlements. The Tamil Tigers controlled roughly 15,000 square kilometers of the region including the well known A9 highway that ran through Kilinochchi where the Tamil Tiger’s had their headquarters. From this city, His Royal Highness ruled. Among the media and his supporters, he is always referred to by his title, ‘His Royal Highness the Tamil Tiger.’

On a Personal Note

I carry, even now at the age of eighty-three, immense pain from the suffering inflicted on me, my family, my friends, and on my political allies by the cruel reign of the Tamil Tigers who fought against the Sri Lankan forces in their quest to establish a Tamil Homeland. Thousands upon thousands of Tamil souls will carry this endless pain—some more, some less, but carry it we do, nonetheless.

This fiction will ever be a warning to future Tamil generations—as well as to the world—not to ever again be caught up in the deceptive promises of angry young men who drop out of school to take up a cause at the point of a gun. There is a Tamil proverb that states, “Grains cultivated by children never reach home.” It is a wonder that the Jaffna region, admired as a highly educated society, chose to ignore their own wisdom and turned to a blood thirsty, gun-toting boy to rid themselves of the oppressive Sri Lanka government. After his celebrated death at the Battle of Mullivaikal in 2009, the Jaffna and Vanni regions now suffer more heartrending hardships and bloodshed under the genocidal rule of the Sri Lanka government. To whom will Jaffna now turn to rid itself of this new regime of terror? 

                                               

Since this novel is intended for international audience there is a glossary--in the appendix-- to enable the reader to understand unfamiliar words or acronyms or phrases.

Kathir Bala Sundaram