The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) is a former

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n backed

Tamil militant Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception among minority Sri Lankan Tamils th ...

group in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It was formed in 1987 as an amalgamation of splinter groups from other militant groups (

Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group. Militant separatists The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, Su ...

People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front. O ...

Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. ...

). It is currently a pro-government

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

group and political party. In August 2011 it was reported that the party is to be deregistered.

Formation

Gnanapiragasam Gnanasekaran (alias Paranthan Rajan), a leading member of PLOTE, formed the ''Three Stars'' militant group with splinter groups of TELO and EPRLF after leaving PLOTE. In 1987, ''Three Stars'' merged with a PLOTE splinter group led by Jotheeswaran (alias Kannan) and an EPRLF splinter group led by Douglas Devananda to form the Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front. This was done with the support of the

Research and Analysis Wing The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, ...

, the Indian intelligence agency. Devananda left the ENDLF and formed the

Eelam People's Democratic Party The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam ...

after the

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling t ...

was signed.

Politics

The ENDLF was very active during the

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lank ...

's occupation of north-east Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It took part in the 1988 North Eastern provincial council election and the 1989 parliamentary election. When the IPKF withdrew in 1990 the ENDLF also retreated to India. Thereafter the ENDLF remained dormant until the 2004 defection of LTTE commander Karuna. Karuna joined the ENDLF and became its president. The ENDLF soon started taking a very anti-LTTE stance. Karuna has since left the ENDLF but the ENDLF remains a pro-government paramilitary group and political party.

References

* * {{Sri Lankan Tamil people Factions in the Sri Lankan Civil War Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka Political parties in Sri Lanka Foreign intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War Indian Peace Keeping Force Paramilitary organisations based in Sri Lanka 1987 establishments in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 1987