SUMMARY
PLOTE (Peoples Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam) was formed in 1979 as a splinter group of LTTE, after a split between LTTE leader Prabhakaran and Uma Maheswaran over the way the organization was supposed to wage the resistance struggle. While also professing the desire for an independent Tamil state and committing to armed struggle in order to achieve that goal, PLOTE used tactics of avoiding large scale confrontations with the Government of Sri Lanka, choosing instead to build up strength and membership. Based on these differences, and the pre-existing animosity between the groups, in June 1986, LTTE, in a bid to obtain full domination and control of the Tamil separatist movement, issued an ultimatum to PLOTE to surrender and its members join LTTE. This was shortly followed by the initiation of fighting between the two groups. Further, to accentuate the acrimony between LTTE and PLOTE, PLOTE did participate in the Indian-led peace process, both by taking part in negotiations (although, at the very end, they were relatively critical of the final form of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accords), and, according to some reports, by accepting Indian aid. The support of PLOTE for the Indo-Sri Lankan peace process was far lower than in the case of other groups, such as EPRLF (The Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front).
Furthermore, there are reports of PLOTE involvement outside Sri Lanka. As such, in 1989, approximately 150 members of PLOTE took part in a coup against the Government of the Maldives. There are still debates whether these 150 members acted as mercenaries or as part of PLOTE, or whether they even had the approval of the group.
Uma Maheswaran was the leader of the organization from its inception until his assassination during an internal power struggle on 16 July 1989. This, combined with the authoritarian leadership model professed by Maheswaran plunged the organization into internal infighting and chaos. Leadership then reverted to a collective leadership dominated by Dharmalingam Sithadthan.
Currently, PLOTE remains a small, non-parliamentary, Tamil-based anti-LTTE political party. Occasional reports of violent clashes between members of LTTE and of PLOTE remain.
PLOTE has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.
