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Pillayan to lead TMVP?

By Easwaran Rutnam

Former 'commander' of the Thamil Makal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) Pillayan is set to lead the armed outfit and is already setting up his own multi-storied headquarters down Lake Road in the Batticaloa town, TMVP sources told the Daily Mirror.

The new developments come in the wake of Karuna Amman fleeing to Britain in the midst of the deepening internal rift between Pillayan and Karuna owing to alleged financial mismanagement and tit-for-tat killings.

However, when contacted TMVP spokesman Azad Maulana said the outfit was merely undergoing restructuring and that Karuna Amman still heads the TMVP. He however admitted a new office was being set up down Lake Road for Pillayan's political work. TMVP sources, however, claimed that the current TMVP headquarters in Batticaloa would be shut down while Pillayan makes his presence felt with new offices in Batticaloa and Ampara. Most of his cadres operating from Trincomalee have moved to Batticaloa forcing close allies of Karuna to flee towards Thoppigala. TMVP sources further said that at a high level party meeting at Welikanda on Friday it was decided to demand an explanation on the accounts from Karuna's fund raisers. 'We found that 70% of the funds have been going to Karuna while only 30% was reaching the TMVP. So we will wait for the explanation this week before deciding on the next step,' the source said.

Meanwhile, it is unlikely that Karuna would return to the country. There is strong speculation that the latest TMVP split has the backing of certain state elements in an attempt to divert negative international attention created by allegations of abductions, killings and child recruitment by the Karuna outfit. When asked by the Daily Mirror, TMVP sources said the allegations were true but claimed Pillayan was intent on disarming his cadres, releasing all child soldiers and purely focusing on political work.