<b>Taxes would be gradually reduced -Balakumar drop hints.</b>

Guna Kayananth

Nelliyadi, Jaffna - July 7 At 7.05 pm on July 5, First Black Tiger Capt. Miller’s mother, Mrs. Vallipuram lit the "Flame of Remembrance," a traditional coconut oil lamp, at the spot where Miller exploded the lorry-bomb, killing himself and over forty soldiers, the event which stalled Sri Lankan Army’s first attempt to capture the Jaffna peninsula.

Exactly at the same time, Velupillai Pirabaharan, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), garlanded Miller’s photograph and lit the Flame of Remembrance in Vanni. LTTE’s senior commanders were present.

At Nelliyadi, Miller’s mother was moved, but managed to control and composed herself. Pirabaharan too was equally moved, LTTE sources said.

In Jaffna, local dailies printed a full-page photograph of Miller taking leave from Pirabaharan. Surrounded by his top aides, he is seen patting on Miller’s back. This happened in a secret camp in Jaffna, before Miller drove the explosive laden motor-lorry,crashing the main gate, into Nelliyadi Central College (Madhya Maha Vidyalam), the first succesful kamikazee operation on the evening of July 5, 1987, where the troops rested after the successful completion of the "the 1987 Operation Liberation," at Vadamaradchy, the first of the three phased attempt to wrest the peninsula from the Tigers.

Pirabaharan sent one of the top leaders of the LTTE's central committee, V. Balakumar, to represent him at the Nelliadi remembrance day function. Balakumar, was formerly the leader of EROS (Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students), one of the five Tamil militant groups, that were at the vanguard of the Eelam struggle.
He aligned his group with the LTTE after attempts at finding a political settlement with the Sri Lanka failed.

Balakumar, in his address, told the massive crowd that , LTTE was committed to talking to the Sri Lankan Government and working out a peace deal. “We are not reluctant to talk to the Government,” he said.
He also talked about the growing accusation that, the LTTE was taxing the people.

“Our’s is not the hand that tax the people. Our’s is not the hand that cause hardship or difficulties to the people. Our’s is the hand that do good to the people, that make them live a better life,” he said. He hinted that the taxes would be gradually reduced.

Analysts here regard Balakumar’s announcements as authoritative. They say that, they were intended to put at rest, the speculation that the LTTE would never attend talks. He had also answered the charges about taxes.
Balakumar stressed that Eelam struggle grew to this stage due to the immense sacrifices the Tamil people made, the untold suffering they endured, the heroic and valiant battles their fighters fought, the supreme sacrifice the Black Tigers made.

Balakumar said that, the Tamil people should remember for ever the supreme sacrifice of the Black Tigers.

Two hundred and forty one Black Tigers have died since Miller’s Nelliyadi lorry bomb attack. Out of the total, 64 of them are females, the statistics released by the LTTE reveal. It adds that 163 of them were Black Sea Tigers, 116 were males and 46 females.

The first LTTE cadre to die was Shanker. He died on November 27, 1982. It is in his memory Martyr’s
Day is being observed. Since then 17,637 cadres had died, 13,875 males and 3762 females.

The statistics also show that the LTTE drew most of its fighters from Jaffna and Batticoloa-Ampara regions. Of the dead 6483 were from the Jaffna peninsula and 4531 from Batticoloa- Ampara region. Vanni comes next with 2521 and Trincomalee 1478.

Of the 241 Black Tigers, 125 were from Jaffna , 47 from Batticoloa- Ampara, 22 Vanni, 16 Trincomalee, 15 Mannar, 10 Mullaitivu 6 from other districts.

Almost the entire Jaffna peninsula was decorated with white flags and young coconut leaves and memorial meetings were held in almost all the villages.

Massive memorial meetings were held at Vanni, Vavuniya, Batticoloa and Trincomalee where thousands of people attended.