rapa
08-29-2006, 11:41 AM
In the eighties LTTE leader holding a cheetah cub was an icon picture that received extensive publicity in the LTTE materials. The LTTE leader Pirabakaran reared this cub to symbolize the logo of the LTTE. During Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) operations in the late 1980's it is said that Pirabakaran's pet was shot and killed in an operation.
With the withdrawal of IPKF, Pirabakaran was able rear two other cheetah cubs and they were kept in a cage in his Punitha Boomi residence in the Vanni. The cubs were friendly with Pirabakaran's children. His daughter Duwaraka had particularly liking to them and played with them from outside the cage.
http://vizhippu.net/files/image001_4.jpg
One day when Duwaraka was playing, one of the cubs scratched her hand and the injury was so sharp that blood started ooze out. The source in Vanni confirming this story stated that the cub even licked the blood in the wound. The father noticing the situation from inside the house was said have been troubled and he felt tasting the blood of his daughter is bad symptom which would lead to she becoming meal for the cub.
He pulled his Magnum pistol from his hip belt and fired couple of typical James Bond style shots avoiding his daughter. Both the cubs reeled and succumb to the bullet wounds.
Since then Praba has given up rearing Cheetah cubs. Young Duwaraka was highly distressed over the killing and it took a while for her to accept the reality. She was said to be angry with the father for killing the cubs. Poor cheetahs, they were not rehabilitated or returned to the place from where they came from. They became victims to an emotive rage of the leader and the animal that symbolise the LTTE flag had become easy pray for its God given taste.
With the withdrawal of IPKF, Pirabakaran was able rear two other cheetah cubs and they were kept in a cage in his Punitha Boomi residence in the Vanni. The cubs were friendly with Pirabakaran's children. His daughter Duwaraka had particularly liking to them and played with them from outside the cage.
http://vizhippu.net/files/image001_4.jpg
One day when Duwaraka was playing, one of the cubs scratched her hand and the injury was so sharp that blood started ooze out. The source in Vanni confirming this story stated that the cub even licked the blood in the wound. The father noticing the situation from inside the house was said have been troubled and he felt tasting the blood of his daughter is bad symptom which would lead to she becoming meal for the cub.
He pulled his Magnum pistol from his hip belt and fired couple of typical James Bond style shots avoiding his daughter. Both the cubs reeled and succumb to the bullet wounds.
Since then Praba has given up rearing Cheetah cubs. Young Duwaraka was highly distressed over the killing and it took a while for her to accept the reality. She was said to be angry with the father for killing the cubs. Poor cheetahs, they were not rehabilitated or returned to the place from where they came from. They became victims to an emotive rage of the leader and the animal that symbolise the LTTE flag had become easy pray for its God given taste.