It’s been a couple of weeks since this image was THE news item on all forms of media. It’s stale news now. Like most people, yet unlike them because of the descriptions, Velupillai Prabhakaran was a different person to different people – many people here associate him with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, to most Sri Lankan Tamils he was a messiah, to the Sinhalese, he was a ruthless killer, and so on.
A day before this photograph was released, Rediff had a very interesting slideshow on him, with a set of photos that showed a completely different side. A married guy with children, who would’ve celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary later this year. Within a day of the above photo being released, the bodies of the family members (except Charles Anthony, who was killed a few days earlier) were also found, within 600 metres from where Prabhakaran’s body was found, all with gunshot wounds on their head.
I couldn’t help but spare a thought for the man. The person that existed, perhaps forgotten, beneath the persona. If this article is to be believed, a persona that was created by India. In his last moments, if the cliched ‘whole life flashing before the eyes’ happened, what would’ve been his thoughts? Was it that of the persona – the crushing sadness that a collective dream, of which he was the keeper, had been left unfulfilled? Or was it that of the person – the despairing helplessness of someone who suddenly realised that it was all over, and wondered whether dedicating a lifetime to a cause was worth the life he had taken a long time ago – his own.
until next time, the purpose of it all….
image courtesy: The Telegraph
…and on the blog today, “Liberation..deliberation” http://bit.ly/18Xoie
I wonder if our freedom fighters felt something similar… but then one person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist…
thats something i was also thinking about.. or those who want kashmir independent from india and pakistan…there are so many perspectives to this…
He is a hero to many. And a villain to many others. And as the saying goes, all the world is a stage and there are players. With many entrances and exits.
His writ ran large. And his guns were trained on many. And yet, he was a hero to a population. Away and here too.
I thought similar thoughts as you. thinking of a listless body being lifted and carried away. ‘Is this what it all comes to’ was the thought in my mind.
The gun kills. The gun fires at the behest of the chap whose finger is on the trigger. It doesnt care a fig about the chap who financed it. Or is on the opposite side.
right.. i was wondering, whether he suddenly saw himself as an individual in his last moments, something he might have forgotten..
It was quite a disturbing image without a doubt. A life led in secrecy , and this is the one image of yours the whole world gets to see most often.
from what i’ve read, the secrecy and security issues went hand in hand… but right, it was an image that disturbed.. and questioned..
And oh… a Man U fan?
🙂 sorry to hear that man!
Ole Barca!
yawn, when do we move on? 😐
i didn’t like the fact that they recruited children and forced them to hold guns. Even if his cause was genuine, I don’t like the LTTE because of this. I wish the Indian government flush out the millitants from Manipur too. They are not even like the LTTE and are all money-looting son- of- bitches. Recently, some outfits forcefully recruited children hardly 10 and nobody could do anything. They filmed the kids saying they have joined forcefully and released to the media. The rest of India will never know this of course. We don’t have any leader with strong political will either from the state or the center. Why should Delhi care when we send only 2 MPs, most of the times with a begging bowl or for sight seeing at Delhi and never talk in the parliament?
Sorry, this is a long comment and it has gone away from the topic. huh, I am feeling lighter and can start working now. 🙂
hmm, like i said, i don’t have enough info on this to form a clear perspective.. but you do have strong views on the 2MPs and te begging bowl – second time i have heard it here 🙂
sorry, I meant they filmed the kids saying they have joined willingly*.
payback time?