COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry tried to throw more mud on beleagured Tamil Tiger chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran by publishing a family album that allegedly shows his luxurious lifestyle amidst war and mass deprivation. The album was found by the troops in his hideout in Puthukudiyiruppu.
The Ministry said that the images showed the “dark corners of Mr Prabhakaran’s duplicitous and pampered life style.” In an accompanying commentary, it dubbed him a “smiling psychopath”. The photographs were shown to President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he visited Kilinochchi which was the rebels’ political and administrative capital in April.
The album had pictures of Prabhakaran relaxing with his aged mother, father, Velupillai, wife Mathivathani and children, Charles Anthony, Thuvaraka and Balachandran. There were pictures of family outings, birthday parties, family dinners, children playing with expensive toys and a day out in the sea. In one picture, Prabhakaran is seen gamboling in a swimming pool with one of his sons. The Tiger chief also appeared in T-shirts and safari suits with his tastefully dressed wife.
All three children of Prabhakaran’s are now grown up, the youngest boy, Balachandran, being in his mid teens. All the photographs spoke about a high class lifestyle which is incongruous against the backdrop of thousands of Tamil civilians suffering in the north under war-induced poverty. The LTTE leader’s penchant for luxury was previously only known to a few persons who interacted with him such as the Indian journalist Anita Pratap who described in her book ‘Island of Blood’ how fond the rebel leader was of good non-vegetarian food, especially Chinese food.
However, to the credit of Prabhakaran, he insisted that the cadre also got good and adequate food. According to his unofficial biographer, M R Narayanswamy, Prabhakaran made it compulsory for every cadre to learn to cook. The LTTE-run restaurants in Kilinochchi had earned a name for their cuisine as well as their liveried and efficient waiters.