Rasaiah Parthipan

Rasaiah Parthipan also known as Lt. Col. Thileepan was a LTTE political wing member who died during a hunger strike during the IPKF operation of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

Personal life

His real name was Rasaiah Parthipan and was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. His father Rasaiah was a school teacher. His mother died during his childhood and he was brought up by his single father. He was a popular student in Jaffna Hindu College, a prominent high school in Jaffna, before joining the LTTE. prior to the 1983 Black July progrom.

LTTE

Rasaiah Parthipan joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1983 prior to Black July progrom. He was given the name Thileepan. He became the LTTE political wing leader of the Jaffna peninsula. He was a determined person making him fast till death.

Reasons for fast

On the 15th of September 1987 at 9.30 a.m at the Nallur Murugan Temple, Thileepan began his fast. His main objective was to bring awareness and action to a list of public demands made by himself and the Tamil Tigers, at a time when the relationship between the LTTE and the IPKF administration was deteriorating.

The publicly stated goals of his fast were

• All Tamils detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be released.
• The colonisation of Sinhalese in Tamil areas under the guise of rehabilitation should be stopped.
• All such rehabilitation should be stopped until an interim government is formed.
• The Sri Lankan government should stop opening new Police stations and camps......
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