The Tamil Eelam Supporters Organization (TESO) was an

Eelam Tamil The Sri Lankan Tamil dialects or Ceylon Tamil or commonly in Tamil language Eelam Tamil () are a group of Tamil dialects used in Sri Lanka by its native Tamil speakers that are distinct from the Tamil dialects spoken in Tamil Nadu. These dialec ...

supporters organisation founded in 1985 with Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi as president and K. Veeramani and

Nedumaran Pazha Nedumaran ''Krishnan Pillai Pazhaniyappan'' () is an Indian politician from the state of Tamil Nadu, India. He is an ex-national Congressman, a writer and Tamil nationalist, who has authored many books in Tamil and English. He is the ed ...

as members for the establishment of an independent

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam (, ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independence, independent sovereign state, state that many Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lan ...

in the northeast of Sri Lanka.Gopalakrishnan, ''Periyar: Father of the Tamil race'', p. 54. When the Central Government of India ordered Tamil Eelam leadership to be sent out of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, thousands of

Tamilians The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is one of the longest- ...

marched along the streets of New Delhi protesting against the provocative order. Five days later TESO successfully prevented movements of trains throughout

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

as a protest against the extradition of the Eelam leadership. When the situation on the borders between India and Sri Lanka were tense, Nedumaran heroically sailed to Sri Lanka, videotaped the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and on his return, went straight to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

to apprise him of the situation in Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi refused to meet him and thus showed his indifference to the sufferings of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.Gopalakrishnan, ''Periyar: Father of the Tamil race'', p. 55. When the Government of India sent an Indian Battalion to Sri Lanka as 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 Lanka ...

(IPKF), the

Dravidar Kazhagam Dravidar Kazhagam is a social movement founded by E. V. Ramasamy, 'Periyar' E. V. Ramasamy. Its original goals were to eradicate the ills of the existing caste and class system including untouchability and on a grander scale to obtain a "Dra ...

protested against it. The worst fears of the Dravidar Kazhagam regarding the IPKF proved true within a week or two of its functioning in Sri Lanka. The battalion had to take orders from the Sri Lanka Government and naturally that Government employed the IPKF against the guerrilla fighters of Eelam. Very soon, Indian papers reported that the Indian Government was spending at the rate of

rupees Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afr ...

ten million per day for maintaining the IPKF in Sri Lanka. The general public then realized that making the Indo-Lanka pact was a historic folly on the part of the Indian Government awoke to the realities but stood on false prestige and did not wish to withdraw the IPKF. But the Government of Sri Lanka insisted on the withdrawal of Indian troops in May 1989 probably because this force tried to prevent the Sri Lanka army from hunting down not only the freedom fighters but the innocent Tamil civilians.

Revival of TESO

On 20 April 2012 M. Karunanidhi sought the revival of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO). After this announcement M. Karunanidhi got severe criticism from several other pro-Tamil leaders. After several hurdles on 12 August 2012 TESO conference held as Eelam Tamils Rights Protection Conference at YMCA grounds in chennai.

References

{{reflist Tamil Eelam Politics of Tamil Nadu 1985 establishments in Tamil Nadu Organizations established in 1985 Foreign intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war Indian Peace Keeping Force

Revival of TESO

See also

References