The LTTE’s former international wing leader and chief arms procurer, Kumaran Pathmanathan has claimed that former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, supplied the terror outfit with funds.
“Most of the money used to buy weapons for the LTTE came from MGR (M. G. Ramachandran), the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister,” he revealed during an exclusive interview with WION.
Kumaran Pathmanathan, better known as KP, was the gun-runner of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and was also poised to be the next-in-line as the leader of the terrorist organization.
During his interview with WION, KP revealed that weapons were purchased by the LTTE from all over the world, including Lebanon. According to the former terrorist, the weapons were transported to Sri Lanka via South India with the help of the then Chief Minister. He also stated that smuggling them into the island did not prove challenging as the Sri Lanka Navy at the time was not very sophisticated.
KP alleged that western forces including the USA had provided ample opportunity for the rise of the LTTE. He also stated that contrary to rumours, the LTTE did not have any connection with international rebel groups, as Prabhakaran, a despotic leader by nature, did not entertain external interference of any sorts.
Pathmanathan then proceeded to explain that ironically it was former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, mother of Rajiv Gandhi, who first instructed the RAW to support the LTTE, which marked the starting point of India’s involvement with the LTTE.
He explained that India got involved in this manner because of Sri Lanka’s strong tie with Israel, which was perceived as a threat as India was party to the Soviet bloc at the time, and also because India considered themselves to be the “neighbouring big brother” of Sri Lanka.
When asked about the utilization of child soldiers by the LTTE, he proceeded to explain that although at the start the organization followed a very thorough vetting process and did not grant entry to any and all willing participants, when the LTTE changed gears and transitioned into a regular army, child soldiers were taken in to fill the shortage of soldiers, some even as young as 12 and 13 years of age.
He elaborated that whilst in the early stages children were recruited on a voluntary basis, during the last stages, child soldiers were recruited by force.
“As a father, I felt that it was very bad and that we had to stop these child soldiers. They were students and they needed to study. I tried to stop the recruiting of child soldiers, but unfortunately, no one listened,” he commented.
Addressing the issue of suicide bombings, KP also revealed that Prabhakaran had gotten the idea to deploy suicide bombers from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).
Pathmanathan explained that a form of brainwashing was conducted within the organization in order to convince these suicide bombers to sacrifice their lives, and verified that no drugs were involved to alter their mind set.
He also stated that he and Anton Balasingham were against the concept of suicide bombings, but that their attempts to put a stop to it failed as most within the organization were on board with the plan.
“By 2003, Balasingham and I felt that we had gone the maximum we could go,” he said. “A long time had passed and the world environment had changed. We realized that we could not fight against the world.”
Eight years after the end of terrorism in Sri Lanka, Pathmanathan is now a repentant father-of-three, heading three orphanages in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. In response to question raised by the interviewer, KP also affirmed that he had never directly committed murder with his bare hands.
As a 62-year-old reformed terrorist, he expressed his regret at the people that lost their lives, their future, their parents and their education as a result of the civil war.
“Sri Lanka is a wonderful country. We have some differences between Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, but we have to find solutions in a peaceful manner, not with arms. In my experience, I believe that we have to work together as citizens of Sri Lanka; we have to spread peace; we have to build the country for our next generation; we have to work together.”
