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Mr. Anton Balasingham, the chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and an extraordinary theoretician within the Tamil struggle, is remembered by Tamils across the world today.
His death at his home in London on 14 December 2006, a few weeks after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, shook the Tamil nation.
As over 50,000 Tamils across Britain, Europe and the diaspora came to pay their respects, and many thousands more marked his death in Canada and other diaspora centres across the world, tens of thousands of Tamils in the homeland attended memorial events in Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu. It was a day of national grief.
Honouring his three decades of service to the Tamil struggle, the LTTE conferred the title 'Voice of the Nation'.
In his message of condolence, the LTTE leader, Mr. Vellupillai Prabhakaran, said:
“a source of unwavering strength in the political and diplomatic efforts of our freedom movement, and the light of our nation is extinguished. Bala Annai, from whom I sought advice and solace, is no more with us. It is an irreplaceable loss for our entire nation and for me.”
See here for The Time's obituary: Anton Balasingham, 1938 – 2006.
A four-person Norwegian delegation, including Norway's first Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim, and his predecessor, Mr. Jon Hansen-Bauer, also attended Mr. Balasingham’s funeral in London.
Saying he had come to make a personal comment as a friend, Mr. Solheim said Mr. Balasingham had passed away when he was most needed.
Mr. Jon Hansen-Bauer praised Mr. Balasingam for his invaluable contribution to the peace efforts, and said Norway will miss a much valued friend.
“With the demise of Mr. Balasingham, the LTTE has lost its Chief negotiator; the Tamil people have lost one of their most important spokesman; an unbeatable power standing for the Tamil people, forcefully articulating their rights.
“And, Norway will miss a trusted friend. A central wall in the building of ‘Peace’ constructed painstakingly block-by-block, has fallen.”
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We at the Tamil Guardian, whose personal memory of Mr. Balasingham was as youth laying flowers over his coffin as his body lay in state at Alexandra Palace, in London, remember him not only as a truly remarkable figure within the Tamil struggle, but also as 'Bala anna'. His close relationship with the paper and our predecessors, who had the privilege of knowing him personally, endures as a powerful influence on and source of inspiration for us today.
Bala anna's special association with the Tamil Guardian is, as one of our former editors wrote in the editorial of 17 December 2006 at the time of his death, a legacy of which we remain deeply proud.
