54 fishermen who lost boats get Rs3.96 crore relief
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Ramanathapuram: As many as 54 fishermen who lost their fishing boats to the Sri Lankan navy which could not be retrieved received financial assistance of 3.96 crore from the chief minister's public relief fund on Saturday.
Ramanathapuram MLA Katharbatcha Muthuramalingam and Ramanathapuram district collector Simranjeet Singh Kahlon handed over the relief to the affected fishermen. A total of 8 lakh each was provided for fishermen who lost mechanised fishing boats while those with country fishing boats were provided 2 lakh. Between 2024 and 2025, 48 mechanised fishing boat owners and six country boat owners were identified to have had their boats seized by the Sri Lankan navy.
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First Post
a day ago
- First Post
Who was ‘one-eyed' Sivarasan, the mastermind of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plan?
A new series called 'The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination' relives the 90-day manhunt for Sivarasan, the LTTE operative who masterminded the deadly killing of Rajiv Gandhi. But who was he, and how did he hatch the plan to kill the former PM? read more Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi greeted as he arrives to make an address during an election campaign moments before he was killed by a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. File image/AFP On May 21, 1991, a bespectacled girl in an orange and green churidar bent down respectfully to touch Rajiv Gandhi's feet after he addressed an election rally in Sriperumbudur in India's Tamil Nadu. It was then that she set off a concealed explosive device that was strapped to her body. What followed was chaos and death; Gandhi, then aged 46, was killed along with 18 others, including the girl — later identified as Dhanu. This moment remains a black day in the history of Independent India. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It also set off a massive nationwide investigation for the conspirators — which has now been converted into a seven-episode serial on SonyLiv, titled The Hunt – The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. The gripping show, ( read our review) gives us a ringside view of the CBI investigation and a closer look at those involved in the assassination, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam operatives led by Sivarasan. But who exactly was Sivarasan? How did he plan the death of Rajiv Gandhi? And what happened to him after it? We have the answers. Meet one-eyed Sivarasan The man believed to have devised the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plan was Chandrasekharampillai Packiachandran, also known as Sivarasan. Born in 1858, in Udupiddy, a town about 32 km from Sri Lanka's Jaffna City, he had a normal childhood. Sivarasan's father inculcated in him strong nationalist feelings at a young age. When his father died in late 1977, Sivarasan, being the eldest child, had to bear the family burden and drop out of school and begin supporting the family — he had three brothers and two sisters. It was around this time, that Sivarasan began showing signs of disenchantment with the Sri Lankan government. In fact, during this period, he was arrested on multiple occasions for displaying strong pro-Tamil Eelam views. Around 1983, he joined the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (Telo), a militant group. But in the subsequent years, he joined the LTTE. During his time in the LTTE, he was injured in a clash with the Sri Lankan armed forces near the Jaffna Fort and he lost his left eye. Soon after, his fellow LTTE colleagues started calling him 'Ottaraikkannan' or 'one-eyed person'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Following the release of the 1961 Marlon Brando Hollywood film, Sivarasan became known as 'one-eyed Jack'. Sivarasan was specifically selected and assigned the task of killing Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE's Prabhakaran. File image/X Planning the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi As years rolled by, Sivarasan was promoted as captain in the LTTE and entrusted with specific assignments to be undertaken clandestinely in India. In 1990, he was tasked with the assassination of Kanthasamy Padmanabha alias Naabhaa aka Ranjan, who was the Secretary–General of the pro-India Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front. The success of this mission led LTTE chief Prabhakaran to assign him with his next target — Rajiv Gandhi. Unlike the Padmanabha assassination where firearms and grenades were used, another new method was to be used to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The entire responsibility of the mission was handed over to Sivarasan and he hatched the plan which saw him recruiting several other LTTE operatives such as Murugan, Ravichandran, Santhan and even Nalini. On the day of the assassination, Sivarasan, dressed as a journalist, reached the location of Rajiv Gandhi's rally and hid himself in the crowds. As Rajiv Gandhi walked to the crowds, it was Sivarasan who guided him towards Dhanu, who, in turn, garlanded Gandhi and then bent as if to touch his feet. She flicked a switch, resulting in half a kilo of plastic explosives in her suicide vest exploding, killing Rajiv Gandhi and others. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Sonia Gandhi, daughter Priyanka, and son Rahul turn to chanting mourners during the funeral of Rajiv Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on the banks of the River Yamuna in New Delhi. File image/AFP The hunt for Sivarasan and his death In the ruckus caused following the explosion, Sivarasan and his other conspirators fled the scene. However, what they didn't realise was that another photographer present at the rally had inadvertently taken photos of them. This led to a manhunt for Sivarasan, which ended up in the Bangalore suburb of Konanakunte in the state of Karnataka. In his book Ninety Days: The True Story of the Hunt for Rajiv Gandhi's Assassins, journalist-author Anirudhya Mitra writes, 'When he [Sivarasan] found that the police had surrounded his hideout in Konanakunte, he didn't immediately die by suicide. He knew the agencies would like to catch him alive, and yet he waited thirty-six hours for them to finally break into his hideout. It's only then that he shot himself through his temple. He was cunning, ruthless, brutal and devoted to his Tamil cause.' And when the authorities finally broke into Sivarasan's hideout, they found six of his comrades dead inside. They had all bitten into the capsule of cyanide that they wore around their neck. What is most ironic is that Sivarasan died on August 20 — the same day that Rajiv Gandhi was born. Also, the Indian Express reports that the residence in Konanakunte where Sivarasan and the other LTTE members stayed was converted into a police station and later the landlord rented it out to a school. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Sri Lankan actor-politician who met MGR and Tamil groups on a political mission
The recent death of Sinhala actor Malini Fonseka prompted the media in Tamil Nadu to recall her association with the Tamil cinema and her playing the female lead in the Tamil film Pilot Premnath (1978), starring thespian 'Sivaji' Ganesan. There was another film personality from Sri Lanka, Vijaya Kumaratunga, who had political links with Tamil Nadu. He ventured to find a solution to the protracted and bitter problem of Sri Lankan Tamils. He visited Madras in June 1986 and met Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), a key player in the whole issue, and leaders of Tamil groups, including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Kumaratunga was so impressed with his trip that he not only expressed the hope for an early resolution of the problem but also declared, in an interaction with the press on June 23, 1986, that to achieve the solution, 'I will shuttle between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka a hundred times'. Unfortunately, the actor-turned politician was shot dead by two gunmen outside his home in Colombo on February 16, 1988. He was in his early 40s. Forming his own party Kumaratunga, who had acted in well over 100 films since 1969, left the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in January 1984, along with his wife Chandrika (who was later known as Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and became the Sri Lankan President in 1994). After establishing the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP), regarded as a Leftist organisation, he formed the United Socialist Alliance, comprising the Communist Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, and the Nava Sama Samaja Party. The assassination took place when he was about to be declared the Alliance's candidate in the presidential election that took place 10 months later. His visit to Madras took place when leaders of all the important political groups, fighting for the Tamil cause, were operating from the city after the Black July of 1983. Kumaratunga, in an interview to veteran journalist-Sri Lanka expert N. Ram in December 1985 (published in The Hindu on June 19, 1986 at the time of his visit), called for a political solution, involving the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and the militants, and a genuine devolution of power to the Tamils. Ahead of their political mission, Kumaratunga and Ms. Chandrika met J.N. Dixit, India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka during 1985-89. In his book, Assignment Colombo, the diplomat said their objective was to see whether some compromise could be evolved on the basis of various proposals under discussion since 1983. According to a report in this newspaper on June 24, 1986, the SLMP delegation, which included the party's vice-president Ossie Abeyagoonasekara, held an hour-long meeting with MGR at his residence. The Chief Minister had appreciated the Sri Lankan leaders for their 'bold decision' of coming to the city on a peace mission. Offering his assistance in working out a solution, MGR suggested that the delegation meet Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, too, on its next visit to India. A 'broad-minded' leader Panruti S. Ramachandran, the number three in the MGR Cabinet and the point person of the Tamil Nadu government on matters concerning Sri Lanka, was present when the delegation met the Chief Minister. Later, the visitors met Mr. Panruti Ramachandran at his residence. Describing both Kumaratunga and Ms. Chandrika as 'very accommodative, sincere, and liberal', besides being 'modern in outlook', the former Electricity Minister says he found the SLMP founder a 'broad-minded man'. He points out, 'Ms. Chandrika reflected his [Kumaratunga's] opinion while in power as the President during 1994-2005. She had offered the maximum autonomy to the Tamils, but that was not utilised by the LTTE.' The SLMP delegation met representatives of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), and the LTTE. Mr. Ram observes that the visiting leaders did not meet LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran. The LTTE's best-known international face, Anton S. Balasingham, in his book, War and Peace, referred to the visit by the SLMP leaders to the political headquarters of the rebel group in Indira Nagar, a quiet residential locality in south Chennai. The book carries a picture of the meeting too. In fact, for Balasingham, that was the only occasion he met Ms. Chandrika. In the book, he hailed the SLMP founder as a 'radical politician with a sympathetic understanding of the freedom struggle' of the LTTE. While wrapping up its visit, the delegation issued a statement, saying it 'firmly' believed that the Sinhalese and Tamils who had both lived in Sri Lanka for over 2,000 years and contributed towards its political, social and cultural progress 'can continue to do so in equality, friendship and cooperation'. It also believed in the right of 'all communities to maintain their cultural and political identities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka', The Hindu reported on June 22, 1986. Mr. Ram, who hails Kumaratunga as one 'who was completely non-chauvinistic and who had exhibited a refreshing attitude' towards the Tamil question, recalls that the visit had created a 'very good feeling'. (The veteran journalist had covered Kumaratunga's funeral, which took place in Colombo in February 1988 and which was attended by two senior Left leaders of India: Harkishan Singh Surjeet of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and M. Farooqi of the CPI.) The Chennai visit had bridged the gap between the SLMP founder and the LTTE. Months later, Kumaratunga made efforts, though unsuccessfully, to secure the release of two soldiers from the LTTE. He was given a rousing reception in Jaffna and allowed to visit a camp and meet the soldiers, who, he later told a press conference in Colombo, were in 'good health', The Hindu reported on October 23, 1986. He also held discussions with Kittu, Jaffna area 'commander' of the LTTE. He made one more trip to Jaffna. Eventually, the LTTE struck a deal with the Sri Lankan government on swapping prisoners. Though Dixit said the SLMP leaders were, on their return to Sri Lanka, subjected to 'vilification by the Sri Lankan media and certain political elements', the Kumaratungas' mission had demonstrated the efficacy of dialogue as an option to solve any complex problem.
NDTV
3 days ago
- NDTV
Indian National Charged In Singapore Over Ship Collision That Killed 1
Singapore: An Indian national was charged in a Singapore court on Wednesday under the Merchant Shipping Act over a collision of two vessels a year ago in which one man was killed and another was badly injured. Soosai Antony Vainer, 35, and a Sri Lankan, Wickramage Viraj Amila Shavinda Perera, 40, were the two crew members on the Singapore-registered Hafnia Nile, which collided on the morning of July 19, 2024, with Ceres I, registered with the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Channel News Asia reported. Perera was the officer in charge of the navigational watch on the Hafnia Nile at that time, the report said, citing charge sheets. Vainer was the duty lookout of the navigational watch, the chargesheet added. Vainer observed that the Hafnia Nile was "approaching close" to the Ceres I, but did not report this to the officer in charge of the navigational watch, his charge alleged. Instead, he allegedly steered the Hafnia Nile when he had not been directed to do so, and failed to keep a proper lookout, resulting in the collision of two tankers, it added. As a result of this failure, the vessel collided with the Ceres I, killing one person on board and injuring another, the charge sheets stated. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has brought the prosecution cases against the two men, according to the Channel report. If found guilty, the men can each be jailed for up to two years, fined up to SGD 50,000 or both.
