The LTTE claimed that the real reason for Karuna's defection was because the LTTE's intelligence wing was closing in on him for alleged financial and personal misconduct, terming his break a "temporary aberration". Religion was not a major factor in his philosophy or ideology; the Tamil Tigers' ideology emerged from Marxist-Leninist thought and was explicitly secular. (Courtesy city of Pearland) After leaving their shoes at the main temple door, visitors to Sri Meenakshi . [60][61][62], Prabhakaran's first and only major press conference was held in Killinochchi on 10 April 2002. They called it a "tragic incident" ("Thunbiyal Chambavam", as quoted in Tamil) they requested the press "not to dig into an incident that happened 10 years ago. The assassination was in response to the killings of Tamils in the 1974 Tamil conference incident, for which Duraiappah was to be blamed for[37] because he backed the then-ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party. The government's relationship with Karuna came into the international spotlight when Karuna was arrested in London for traveling with a forged passport (ironically on the same day of Thamilselvan's death). [9] He said that the LTTE lost about 70% of its fighting capacity due the TMVP separating from the LTTE. Losing Tiger's Trail, Aide Blames Prabhakaran [92] It is thought that the entire family was wiped out; the bodies of Mathivathani, Duvaraga and Balachandran reportedly were found in a bushy patch about 600 meters away from where Prabhakaran's body was found. Karuna has alleged that Prabhakaran intentionally dragged out peace talks with Sri Lanka to give rebels additional time to re-arm for further combat. Karuna and the Rajapakse government appeared to have carefully and strategically engineered the former rebel's entrance into mainstream Sri Lankan politics -- one that no one saw coming even a few years ago. His position in parliament was as a Rajapaksa puppet and not someone fighting for Tamil freedom or rights. None of us had any clue of this wicked plan. Since Tamils had to be punished collectively for supporting the armed rebellion, Sinhalese and Tamils sharing political power was ruled out. He was also raised to divine status as Sooriyathevan (God of the Sun) by his followers. In March 2004, he broke away from the Tamil Tigers and claimed renounced . Post Comments Fierce fighting occurred between LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army during these last few days. Karuna has killed 2,000 to 3,000 Sri Lankan soldiers in one night at Elephant Pass when I was in the LTTE..