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Prabhakaran's mom fights paralysis in TN

Our Correspondent in Tiruchi

Her son is holding an island nation to ransom, threatening to overrun one of its most populous towns. But Parvathi Ammal, mother of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, lies unaware of this in a siddha hospital in Musiri near here.

After a paralytic stroke she suffered a couple of months back, Parvathi now talks little and is mostly bed-ridden. "It was in the making, given her advancing age and all the tension she has faced in the last decade or so," said a neighbour.

The pressure on Parvathi and her husband Velupillai was immense after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber is Sriperumbudur in 1991.

The state government promptly banned the LTTE, which is fighting for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka, and launched raids on its hideouts. Parvathi and Vellupillai were, however, spared.

This was probably because the couple has kept a low profile ever since they came to Tamil Nadu as refugees. They live a rented home in Tiruchi's Ayyappa Nagar locality and their only source of income is the pension Velupillai gets from the Srilankan government.

Prabhakaran's sister, now settled in Canada, too sends them money periodically.

"She (Prabhakaran's sister) was here two years back to spend time with her parents. Her arrival was as quiet as her exit...she had a valid visa," said a senior police officer.

Parvathi Ammal was initially treated by doctors in Tiruchi - both allopathic and indigenous. However, as her condition deteriorated, the family turned to siddha medicine. Unlike Ayurveda, which depends mostly on herbs and roots, siddha is based on metallic extracts, leaving at times residues in body parts like kidney, thus leading to renal problems.

Velupillai tends to his wife all day long. They have few friends and not many people visit their house. "They are low-profile people...never interfere in other people's matters," said a resident of Ayyappa Nagar.

Rajiv Gandhi's assassination forced the couple to withdraw further into their shell. Velupillai was quoted in some newspapers then as condemning the killing.

"The family was deeply hurt by Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. They have always been opposed to the LTTE using Indian soil for its politics of violence," said a neighbour.

Senior police officials say they have no evidence to suggest that Velupillai and Parvathi are anyway involved in LTTE's activities either in TN or in Sri Lanka.

The family, however, is sympathetic to the cause of the Tamils. "But it all ends there - a sigh of sympathy here and a silent nod of the head there. Nothing more."

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