Prabhakaran was born in Valvettiturai, a fishing town, on the northern tip of Sri Lanka. His father worked for the government. After Ceylon became independent in 1948, life became very difficult for the small Tamil population. There were laws to limit their chance of getting to university or working for the government. In 1972, Prabhakaran started a group called the Tamil New Tigers (TNT). In July 1975 he shot dead Alfred Duryappa, the mayor of Jaffna. Duryappa was also a Tamil, but Prahbhakaran believed he had become too close to the Sri Lankan government.