Thileepan (Rasaiah Parthipan) began his fast at the Nallur Murugan Temple, Jaffna. His main objective was to bring awareness and appeal to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people. Thileepan was firm on his demands, and was unrelenting unless Tamil demands were met he would not end his fast. He passed away after refusing food and water for 11 days. His death sparked widespread grief across the Tamil homeland, with black flags hoisted and thousands of grieving mourners attending his funeral.