In the early 1970s , United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced the policy of standardisation to rectify the low numbers of Sinhalese being accepted into university in Sri Lanka . A student named Satiyaseelan formed '' Tamil Manavar Peravai '' ( Tamil Students League ) to counter this . This group comprised Tamil youth who advocated the rights of students to have fair enrolment . Inspired by the failed 1971 insurrection of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna , it was the first Tamil insurgent group of its kind . It consisted of around 40 Tamil youth , including Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran ( later , the leader of the Sivakumaran group ) , K. Pathmanaba ( one of the founder members of EROS ) and Velupillai Prabhakaran , an 18-year-old youth from single caste-oriented Valvettithurai ( VVT ) . In 1972 , Prabhakaran teamed up with Chetti Thanabalasingam , Jaffna to form the Tamil New Tigers ( TNT ) , with Thanabalasingham as its leader . After he was killed , Prabhakaran took over . At the same time , Nadarajah Thangathurai and Selvarajah Yogachandran ( better known by his '' nom de guerre '' Kuttimani ) were also involved in discussions about an insurgency . They would later ( in 1979 ) create a separate organisation named Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization ( TELO ) to campaign for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam . These groups , along with another prominent figure of the armed struggle , Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran , were involved in several hit-and-run operations against pro-government Tamil politicians , Sri Lanka Police and civil administration during the early 1970s . These attacks included throwing bombs at the residence and the car of SLFP Jaffna Mayor , Alfred Duraiyappah , placing a bomb at a carnival held in the stadium of Jaffna city ( now " Duraiyappah stadium " ) and Neervely bank robbery . The 1974 Tamil conference incident also sparked the anger of these militant groups . Both Sivakumaran and Prabhakaran attempted to assassinate Duraiyappah in revenge for the incident . Sivakumaran committed suicide on 5 June 1974 , to evade capture by Police . On 27 July 1975 , Prabhakaran assassinated Duraiyappah , who was branded as a " traitor " by TULF and the insurgents alike . Prabhakaran shot and killed the Mayor when he was visiting the Krishnan temple at Ponnalai
1974 Tamil conference incident
1974 Tamil conference incident
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam