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A BOOK REVIEW OF “WOMEN IN TERRORISM: CASE OF

THE LTTE”

Factual Information About the Book

1. The title of the book “WOMEN IN TERRORISM: CASE OF THE LTTE” is a good
assessment of the post conflict situation of Srilanka in relation to the women involved in the
conflict and post conflict written by Tamara Herath. The book examines the growing number of
women actively engaged in terrorist activity and considers the importance of putting those in
relation to the gender, conflict and social politics. At the ending part of the book, studies of
Tamil women combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in details have been
included. LTTE was an armed resistance group identified as one of the deadliest terrorist groups
globally. The book is based on the narratives provided by ex-combatants and the family of the
involved. This book is full of life histories of several persons involved. This book presents the
argument that engagement in armed conflict has transformed combatant women's understanding
of themselves into female slayers of injustice and protectors of the Tamil nation, with a
(re)constructed gender identity and sense of empowerment. The book examines the growing
number of women actively engaged in terrorist activity and considers the significance of this for
theorizing gender, conflict and social politics. Toward that end, the book studies Tamil women
combatants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an armed resistance group
identified as one of the deadliest terrorist groups globally. Drawing on narrative life histories,
author Tamara Herath canvasses three decades of ethno-nationalist war in Sir Lanka contributing
to a major social change for Tamil women in Jaffna. Brief description of book is as follows:

(a) Title of the Book : Women In Terrorism: A Case Study Of The LTTE

(b) Author of the Book: Tamara Herath

(c) Published by: Sage Publications India Private Ltd

(d) Published date: 2012

(e) Total Chapters: 7 (Seven)

(f) Total Pages: 242 (Two Hundred and Forty Two)

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(g) Price of the book: Rs. 595 (IC)

General Description of the Author

2. Tamara Herath has recollected three decades of ethno-nationalist war in Sir Lanka

contributing to a major social change for Tamil women in Jaffna. She is a Criminal Justice
Manager for a Policing organization in Central London, UK. She has had a long career in
criminal justice with many years of working in the Crown Prosecution Service. She was awarded
the prestigious Bram shill Fellowship to facilitate the research that forms the basis of the book.
Dr Herath obtained a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science
(LSE), London. Her current publications include articles titled, “In My Honour: Contextualizing
Rape in Suicide Bombing (2006)”, and “Black Widows, Army of Roses, and Armed Virgins: An
OverviewofWomen’sInvolvement inSuicide Bombings (2006)”. 

Objective of Writing the Book

3. The aim of this book is to offer a window into the gender equality debate within the
LTTE and postulate on the possibilities of what if and to encourage women in Jaffna to take the
mantel that has been given to them by the combatant women and move forward: to (re)build their
lives knowing the sacrifices that were made and the battles that were won and lost. The book
says that the violent ending of the Tamil struggle was for the best but the author has condoned a
war that had cost so many lives. The author has mentioned that the women in Jaffna are
exceptionally resilient and have the ability to hold long-term goals and aspirations. The
sufferings they had endured during the period of conflict would assist them in moving forward in
a positive way in a post-conflict era. Social changes that started with the combatant women have,
in effect, paved the way for civic women in Jaffna, allowing Tamil women as a whole a new
space to be independent and write a new gender history of them.

Contents of the Book

4. It has total of 7 chapters with 242 pages. The 7 chapters of the book are as mentioned
below:
(a) Entering a Tiger’s Lair
(b) The Lions and the Tigers: A historical Overview of the Srilankan Conflict and the
Role of Women

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(c) Displacement and Contributing Factors to Joining the LTTE

(d) The Tiger Family: Kin Identity amongst Women Combatants of the LTTE
(e) Death and the Suicide Bomber
(f) Ah-lu-mai: Equality and Empowerment of the New Woman, Puthumai Pen
(g) Ending a Journey: Final Reflections

Brief Analysis of Chapters of Book

5. Book is organized into 7 chapters. The review of each chapter is as mentioned below;
(a) Entering a Tiger’s Lair. The first chapter gives an introduction of LTTE
controlled area of Srilanka. Herath starts out by mentioning her aim, which is to see how
“three decades of ethno-nationalistic war in Sri Lanka has contributed to a major social
change for Tamil women in Jaffna,” which was the LTTE-controlled area of Sri Lanka.
She has explained her method of research and how the nature of the research made it
difficult for her to remain neutral. Her empathy for her subjects comes through as she
portrays, with sensitivity, the appeal of the LTTE for women recruits. Her subjects are
very young women and it is difficult not to feel for them or understand their motivation.
The author herself has a dual identity i.e. she is both British and Sinhalese. The former
identity made her an outsider and her Sinhalese identity placed her in the opposite camp.
She had to overcome these obstacles, including the language barrier, to win the trust of
her subjects who were eventually willing to talk to her as they too were looking for a way
to make their voices heard after years of suffering.

(b) The Lions and the Tigers: A historical Overview of the Srilankan Conflict
and the Role of Women. The story begins from chapter two onwards. There is brief
history of Sri Lanka and how different political parties evolved. Sri Lanka has always
been an island that celebrates “diversity, tolerance of religion and ethnicity.” The last
three decades, however, have seen an “ethnocentric split” between the Tamils and the
Sinhalese. The Tamils, who claim to be the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka, are a
minority group that makes up 10% of the population. They also make up 31% of the
student body and hence take up a higher percentage of employment. The Tamils are
mostly Hindus, with Christians and Muslims making up the rest. The majority Sinhalese
population, comprising mostly Buddhists, is the decision-maker of the country.

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(c) Displacement and Contributing Factors to Joining the LTTE . Herath

explains Tamil nationalism as a backlash against the ethnocentric policies of the state,
which included giving Buddhism special status as the state religion. Tamils were tired of
the “Gandhi style” methods of the politicians who were fighting for “equal status” for the
two languages, Tamil and Sinhalese. It was against this backdrop that the LTTE
developed under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran. The LTTE was an armed
resistance group seeking self-government in the North and the East of Sri Lanka until its
forces were decimated by the Sri Lankan state army in 2009.

(d) The Tiger Family: Kin Identity amongst Women Combatants of the LTTE.
Herath writes about the highly structured nature of the LTTE and their use of suicide
bombers. Trained by the PLO and RAW to fight a guerilla type war against the Sri
Lankan state, the LTTE achieved global recognition after one of its female suicide
bombers Dhanu assassinated Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. LTTE fighters wore
vials of cyanide around their necks, which they would swallow rather than be taken alive
as prisoners. All this is well known, but Herath shows another side when she describes
their relationship with Tamil civic society, who saw the LTTE members as selfless
people fighting for their freedom. They were welcomed into households and given food
and shelter. Many children grew up seeing the LTTE as honored guests, who made them
feel safe and secure and they aspired to join them. While parents tried to talk their
children out of it, circumstances were such that parental advice was not heeded.
Displacement and the breakdown of family structures resulted in a lack of respect and
regard for elders.

(e) Death and the Suicide Bomber. Though the LTTE is famous for its use of
women fighters, Herath does not view Prabhakaran as a feminist. She recognizes that loss
of lives made it necessary for the LTTE to seek other sources of “ human resources,”
including children of both genders. To make the LTTE women acceptable to civic
society, a strict code of rules was enforced. A family-like unit was created, which
transcended caste and class, and which owed loyalty to Prabhakaran above all. Within the
“fictional” family unit, romance was initially strictly forbidden. Chastity and purity is
highly regarded by Tamil society, giving rise to women combatants known as the “armed
virgins.”

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(f) Ah-lu-mai: Equality and Empowerment of the New Woman, Puthumai Pen.
War and the LTTE did, however, change the role of women. The combatants wore
fatigue pants, as opposed to the traditional sari. Women were not dependent on men.
They could walk alone at night. Rape victims, who were seen as outcasts by civic society,
were welcomed into the LTTE fold. LTTE women had the right to refuse a marriage
proposal and dowry was strictly forbidden. Women from civil society had started to go
out on cycles, sometimes even at night, as result of the loss of men to war. Women were
made suicide bombers under the guise of equality. They were given the same rights as
men to join the Black Tigers — an elite force that used suicide bombing as a means to
fight a large-scale war using as few combatants as possible. This explanation from Arasi,
who at age 30, was the oldest and senior-most among the combatant women who were
interviewed. It was difficult to get the opinion of the Black Tigers as theirs was a secret
organization. Generally, it is possible to get a suicide bomber’s views if he/she is caught
after a failed mission. But it is almost impossible to talk to a Black Tiger as they almost
always swallow cyanide in case of a failed mission.

(g) Ending a Journey: Final Reflections. Herath is aware that some of the
changes that took place during the civil war would not last in a post-war era, when men’s
hegemonic ambitions would, once again, overshadow women’s rights. She also points out
that women were not as emancipated or as equal as they thought they were. Decision-
making roles still lay with men, even though women made up one-third of the LTTE.
And some of the younger women interviewed believed that even those changes in
women’s roles that were visible now would probably have taken place anyway, in
conjunction with global change. The author believes that some changes were a result of
the war and others a direct result of the LTTE’s policies. Tamara Herath makes a
compelling case for the role of the LTTE in changing the role of women, as she also
looks into issues of displacement, the war and “changing social roles” in the Jaffna
province. She has described about Gift of death regarding suicide attacks and final
thought regarding peace and war and role of women in the society.

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Strength of the Book

6. This book succeeds in showing the side of the post conflict era of Srilanka and
differentiates the status of women during conflict and after conflict. This book is based on fact
and writer has written after interviewing 15 women which seven women from civil society,
seven combatants and one ex-combatant. The book at the end gives a very positive message and
condones all the inhumane activities, cruelties and weak points during the conflict.

Weakness of the Book

7. This book is focused mostly to show the Tamil sentiments of the then LTTE. Since, the
author is a British citizen; the book depicts the stories from British point of view. There seems
to be some laggings during the narratives provided in different chapters of the book with bulky
references to different books and chapters. The author spent more time in giving her personal
views and her introduction in the beginning. The events in the books are not in the
chronological order as she has introduced her views in the middle.

Learning Application of the Book

8. LTTE was an insurgency that struggled to transcend its origins as a traditional rebellion
in order to leverage the new possibilities in a post-Cold War world. Thus the book has physically
and virtually linked its struggle to regional and global Tamil communities—the Tamils of
southern India and the Sri Lankan Tamil global Diaspora, respectively—in such a way that it
could retain the strategic advantage long enough to achieve its goal of Eelam (Separate State). In
the process, it became almost legendary for its melding of commitment to destruction with its
imagery of a new world emerging. With its suicide bombers and the cyanide capsules worn by its
combatants LTTE was successful in suicide bombing. Most of them being women had set the Sri
Lankan state back on its heels. This can be a learning application to the present era as such
events might repeat in other countries as well from time to time.

Relevancy to Nepali Army

7. Nepal is directly or indirectly involved with events around Southeast Asian countries.
Military is taken as a last resort and first responder in every country of the world. The book is
beneficial for the Nepalese Army as we can make some preparations for unforeseen future. It
seems to be like a ticking bomb as the situation of the country is unstable. There is possibility of

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conflict in future and since, there are many atrocities in Nepal, women might be involved in
insurgency eventually leading to terrorism. We have experienced involvement of women in the
past Maoist Insurgency. They have been employed extensively in the operation against the
security forces. Illiterate, unemployed and women under social discrimination can be involved in
terrorist activities in Nepal as well.

Conclusion

8. Women In Terrorism: Case of the LTTE is a comprehensive and absorbing read that
focuses on the civil war in Sri Lanka and, more specifically, the role of the LTTE (Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in changing women’s roles in society. It has been written by researcher
Tamara Herath, who spent time amongst the Tamils interviewing 15 women among which seven
women from civil society, seven combatants and one ex-combatant. The women’s insights and
experiences are neatly woven into the narrative. However, pseudonyms have been used for them
in order to protect their identities. Women in Terrorism examine the growing number of women
actively engaged in terrorist activity and consider the significance of this for theorizing gender,
conflict and social politics. Women should be given equal status in society through their
empowerment and must be educated in order to create a safe and sustainable environment for
them. The book is perfectly written and might be useful for Nepali Army to face against such
situation in our country as well.

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