PRABHAKARAN’S TALLEST SON

Tallest man in Sri Lanka who claims to be the son of Prabhakaran

There aren’t any statistics to show and prove that  who is the tallest person in Sri Lanka. A man who is 7feet 3 inches high is been reported from Welikanda, LTTE rehabilitation centre. What is more interesting than his height is the fact that he considers that LTTE Leader Prabhakaran as his father.
An article was published on Sunday Divaina newspaper which has been extracted and translated below:
A very tall guy is walking towards us. Is he wearing false legs (stilts)? No, he seems to walking on his legs. I can’t remember seeing anyone this tall ever in my life. He should be the tallest man in Sri Lanka. It is not surprising that we aren’t aware that such a man existed as he lives in a rehabilitation centre in Watuwawa as a terrorist till he surrendered to the army. If the LTTE wasn’t destroyed, he would have lived only a short life.
He is Marlon, a member of the LTTE cadre. He is been rehabilitated at the Welikanda Kandakadu Rehabilitation centre.
He is standing before us wearing a sarong and a T-shirt. Before starting a conversation, we asked as to how he is and he said that he is fine.

How tall are you?
“Seven feet and three inches tall”.
When we reached Welikanda Kandanadu Rehabilitation Centre, we saw a group of youth playing volley ball and cricket and another group watching them.  But we didn’t see this man in the play ground. He shouldn’t have missed our eyes. If so why wasn’t he be there? We wanted to ask him so many questions since he was before us talking to us. So we started shooting our questions.

We saw a group of youngsters playing. Why weren’t you there? Don’t you like sports?
“I like sports. I was a member of the LTTE. I love badminton but now I can’t play anything .  I was asked not to exhaust myself. I find it difficult to breathe when I get tired. I have a problem in the heart. So I was asked not to tire myself. “
When did you get to know about your heart problem?

“I knew that only after surrendering to the army”.
So weren’t you aware of your sickness when you were in the LTTE?
“No”
Didn’t you have to do hard work when you were in the LTTE?

“I have worked hard. I have faced some difficulties but I didn’t care for them at all.”
So you have worked very hard to win the EELAM. Is that so?
“If I speak the truth. We fought for a cause.”

Both of us are humans and both of us have red blood in our bodies. So why did you want to divide the country by joining the LTTE?

“I followed the path lead by my father and those followed by my brothers”.
Who is your father?
“Prabhakaran.”
How come Prabhakaran be your father?
“It’s a long story”.
If you would like to relate it, we would like to listen.
We were residing in Pudukuduiruppu. My father died when I was small out of Malaria. My mother married after few months from my father’s death and left us. I was looked after by my grandmother. She was very old. But she fed me and looked after me well. She has told me that my mother left me when I was four years old. She sent me to school. I went to Thalagalappa Maha Vidyalaya. We lived from the money sent by my uncle. She did her best but I missed my mother a lot. I loved to go to  school. My grandmother passed away when I was in Grade three. “
He sighed. I looked into his eyes. They were like two fireballs. I thought that they will be filled with tears in a moment but Prabhakaran has converted his heart into a stone. He expressed his sorrow in a smile.
What happened next?
“I became an orphan. I walked along the streets. I ate whatever was given by the shops and slept in front of them. Yet I lived. I wore a T shirt and shorts which had turned into rugs. Then one day a line of vehicles passed me and I still remember how I stepped into the drain as it scared me. After they left, I stayed at the same place and a van came after an hour and stopped near me.
Two men got off the van and asked my whereabouts. I answered to all their questions. One man asked me to get into the vehicle and I didn’t feel any fear and I got in quickly. The van went and parked before a huge house and I was asked to go in.
It was dark yet I wasn’t scared. I walked into the house and saw some other children inside, I was very happy to see them. One of them showed me a tank and asked me to have a bath. They gave me new clothes afterwards. I was given food and I was very happy on that day.
Later only I knew that it was the children’s home of the LTTE.
Prabhakaran had travelled in one of the vehicles which passed me. He has seen me and given orders to find out about me. That’s how I have been taken to the orphanage. He used to visit us every month to find out whether we are happy. He bought us sweets and clothes. I don’t know why, but he had a special concern for me. He spoke to me and I have heard several times him giving orders to the care takers to look after me.
The children weren’t sent to schools. Yet teachers came and taught us at the home.”
Marlon’s days of evil disappeared. He entered a new phase of life. He met new relatives. He saw the world and it was the world of Prabhakaran. He understood the intentions of people. Yet, he didn’t have a world beyond that. He grew up among those men.
He was the sweetest child in the home. Thus, he was able to win the hearts of the LTTE members and his colleagues.  He wasn’t aware that they were brought us like broiler chicks that are fed to be taken as meat. When he was thirteen years old, the LTTE cadres used him on training. He was given arms.  His childhood thus stopped. He was given cyanide capsule to hang on his neck and was sent to the war front as a victim of the LTTE. His unusual appearance and special qualities made him an important role in the LTTE. He was given special perks. He was assigned the duties of the Trincomalee District Weapon in-charge officer.
So haven’t you taken part in missions?
“I didn’t have to but during the final stages we too had to come to the war front and I too took up weapons.”
Does that mean that you fought with the army?
“Yes, there were some occasions like that”.
Didn’t you have to face accidents?
“Luckily none”..
Then why did you surrender?
“It wasn’t only me, many of the members of the LTTE left arms and surrendered”.
What about Prabhakaran?
“I didn’t know about him.”
What do you think about the loss of Prabhakaran?
“Sad. I feel what it feels for a child who loses a father. He was a father to me when I was fatherless. He was the one who made me into a man. If he didn’t give shelter to me, I would have been dead by now. He treated  me like to one of his own children. I am very sad about his loss.”
He gave you shelter and food to eat. Other than that what has he done to you?
“He didn’t send me to the war front. He made me a special person in the LTTE. I was given permission to get married at the age of 27 years. Others were allowed to marry after 30. He gave me a new house and a motor bike.”
As you are telling us, he, as a leader has changed his principles as he wished.
“I didn’t see anything like that in him. When two members of the LTTE got married they were given a house to live in. I too got married and I too was given a house. The only difference was that I was allowed to get married at the age of 27.unlike others”
Yes. So he has changed his principles in letting you get married early than the others.
“I don’t think so”.
Since he considers Prabhakaran as his father, he is not ready to think of any evil of him because he worships him as a god. He also doesn’t understand that Prabhakaran treated him as a child in order to build a soldier and not to make a man for the future.
What is your wife’s name?
“Selvarani.”
You told us that she too was a member of the LTTE. What was her role?
“She worked towards strengthening the LTTE political Unit”.
Did both of you work for the LTTE until you all surrendered
“Yes”.
Why did you decide to surrender?
“Because we didn’t want to die… I have a small son and he is only 4 years old I didn’t want to kill him.”
Since both of you were LTTE members, weren’t you all afraid?
“No, we thought that we will be protected and we were protected just as we expected.”
So wasn’t your wife rehabilitated?
“She was released because of the child”.
Where are they residing now?
“In PudukuduIruppu”.

What are your plans when you leave this place?
“I am following a carpentry course and I hope to work as a carpenter .for a living”
What will do if the LTTE get organized again?
“I don’t think that such a thing would happen.”
I asked what if something like that happens?
“I understand a lot of things now. I don’t want a war again. We can live peacefully in this country. I have a wife and a child. I want to live a happy life. It would be great if I can go to them soon”.
We wish that he will be able to go back to his child soon. He greeted us and left us. Yet we don’t feel like leaving this place. Many people like Marlon are around us in this rehabilitation centre.  They seem to want to talk us and we are sure that they have a lot to share.

Newspaper Article  Tharanga Ratnaweera