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Velupillai
Prabhakaran
Maha Veerar Naal Address
மாவீரர் நாள் -
National Heroes Day
27 November 1992
 "The
strength of our struggle arises from the fierce determination of our
fighters. Their firm commitment and their courage to act without the fear of
death are the force and resource of our struggle.
The whole world is providing arms and funds to our enemy. We are not
begging from the world... We stand firm on our own legs, on our own soil,
relying on our own people and fight with our own hands. .. Since we are
firmly rooted in our own strength we stand upright without bowing to the
pressures of others."
My Beloved People of Tamil Eelam,
Today is Heroes Day. It is the sacred day when we cherish in our memory those
exceptional beings who, by their sacrifice, have made our freedom struggle a
heroic epic in the annals of world history. 
Our heroes are supreme idealists. They loved their goal more than their
lives. They embraced the liberation of their people as the highest goal in their
life and they died for that ideal. Freedom is a noble ideal. It is the highest
virtue in human life. It is the basis for human progress and development. It is
freedom which gives meaning and wholeness to life. The yearning for freedom
arises as the deepest aspiration of the human spirit.
For thousands of years, since the birth of civilisation, human beings have
been struggling for freedom. They were struggling to emancipate themselves from
the structures of oppression. The innumerable struggles, revolutions and wars
that erupted on the face of this planet for centuries are none other than the
manifestations of the human passion for freedom.Human beings enslave human
beings. They destroy each other. They exploit each other. Man has become the
foremost enemy of man. Righteousness is undermined when one infringes on the
human world.
As a consequence contradictions emerge in human relationships in the form of
caste, class and race.
As long as there is oppression and injustice, as long as there are people
deprived of freedom, there will be liberation struggles.
This is the law of history. The motor of history is propelled by the human will
to freedom. As a section of people belonging to the oppressed masses of the
world, we too are engaged in a struggle for liberation. Above all the national
liberation struggles, our cry for freedom is heard louder in the world arena.
Our liberation struggle is unique. It has its specific characteristics and is
structurally different from other freedom struggles.
In our homeland, in the course of our struggle, extra-ordinary sacrifices
have been made which have not taken place anywhere, at any time in the history
of the world. I can proudly say that none can equal our martyrs in their
dedication, deep commitment to the goal and tremendous courage that transcends
the fear of death. Such magnificent qualities have enabled them to create an
unparalleled legend of heroism. Our struggle evolved through these remarkable
feats of self-sacrifice, has become a guide and a driving force to the oppressed
people of the world.
The strength of our struggle arises from the fierce determination of our
fighters. Their firm commitment and their courage to act without the fear of
death are the force and resource of our struggle. The whole world is providing
arms and funds to our enemy. We are not begging from the world. We do not depend
on anybody. We stand firm on our own legs, on our own soil, relying on our own
people and fight with our own hands. This is the specificity of our
individuality. Since we are firmly rooted in our own strength we stand upright
without bowing to the pressures of others.
Today, our liberation struggle is situated in a complex historical
conjuncture faced with new challenges and new crises. Our enemy, having firmly
closed down the doors of peace, has embarked on a course of escalating the war.
The Government is not prepared to put forward any substantial proposals to
resolve the Tamil national question.
This year the war has intensified on an unprecedented scale. We were able to
work out new strategies and stepped up our military assaults to foil the
offensive plans of the enemy. As a consequence, the enemy suffered heavy
casualties more than ever before in the history of the war. We have impressed
upon the enemy that this land of ours will not tolerate the incursions of an
aggressor.
In spite of the fact that the enemy has suffered set-backs in the war front
and faced serious economic crisis as a consequence of the war and in spite of
the realisation that the LTTE cannot be defeated militarily, the Sri Lankan
regime has not given up its militaristic approach. The Government is primarily
concerned with modernising the armed forces, escalating the war of aggression
and to seek a military solution.
From the strategy of the Government we must be quite clear about one
thing. That is, there has been no change in the hegemonic attitude of the
Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism to dominate and rule over the Tamil nation by armed
might. As long as the Sinhala nation is buried in the mud of racist politics, we
cannot expect a fair and reasonable solution from the Sinhalese ruling class.
Our people should realise this bitter political reality.
Our freedom struggle continues for more than forty years amidst tensions,
turmoils and crises. Our struggle has taken different forms at different times,
from non-violent Gandhian agitations to armed resistance movement. Yet our cry
for justice and fair play has not touched the conscience of the Sinhala nation.
The profound suffering of our people, the tragedies they faced in the form
of death and destruction, the tears of blood they shed from their anguish, have
not touched the compassion of the Buddhist nation.
Our enemy is heartless and committed to war and violence. His objective is to
destroy our homeland. We cannot expect justice from the magnanimity of his
heart. What can we do in these circumstances?
We have no alternative other than to continue our struggle, to continue to
intensify our struggle.
We are not warmongers who love violence. In actual fact, spiritually, we
love peace. We want a permanent, stable and honourable peace. It is because of
this reason that in spite of this bloody war, we are keeping the doors of peace
open.
We have not closed down the path of peace. We have no such intention. One
day, when our enemy knocks at our doors of peace, we will extend the hand of
friendship.
But our enemy is committed to violence. Therefore,
he has imposed an unjust war on us. Today, the enemy's armed forces have
come to our doorstep and are beating war drums. They are bent on devouring our
land and to destroy us. He is prepared to shed any amount of blood in this
genocidal war.
In this most difficult and critical situation what can we do? Have we got any
alternative other than to fight to protect our land and our people? We have to
struggle and win our freedom. Freedom is not a commercial commodity that can be
bargained. It is a sacred right that can be won by shedding blood.
Let us continue to struggle. Let us continue our journey towards freedom in
spite of the obstacles and sufferings we may encounter. Let us continue to
struggle so that the sacrifices made by our martyrs and the blood spilled by our
people will not be in vain. We have already encountered so many challenges, so
many dangers and so many crises in the course of our struggle.
Nothing and nobody can deter us any more. Let us continue our struggle
with determination. History will be our guide and truth shall be our witness.
Our martyrs are the pillars of our freedom movement, whose blood enriches the
history of our freedom struggle, whose ideal makes our struggle supreme, whose
sacrifices shape the formation of our nation, whose memories make our
determination stronger. We salute our martyrs who are the architects of the
freedom of our nation. |
