Untitled Document

Front Page

Indo-Jayalalithaa bashing
TNA dares to differ with LTTE
The TULF and the TNA have moved fast to strike a dissenting voice for the first time from the LTTE by asking the country's minority Tamils to refrain from criticising and embarrassing Indian leaders especially neighbouring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. TULF Senior vice president V. Anandasangaree in a statement issued on a Parliament letter-head appeared to speak on behalf of the once moderate TULF and the TNA coalition.

He has appealed to all "our members, supporters and also well-wishers to refrain from hurting or causing any embarrassment to not only the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, but also to any leader across the Palk Strait and act with restraint". The call comes in the wake of a protest rally organised by the LTTE in the eastern city of Trincomalee, and on May Day in north central Vavuniya slamming Ms. Jayalalithaa for having a resolution passed in the Tamil Nadu state assembly calling for the extradition of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran for the murder of former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi.

One of the speakers who called for Ms. Jayalalithaa's extradition at the Vavuniya rally was a low-level TULF leader S. Nathan. The Sri Lankan Tamils backing the LTTE have in return called for the extradition of Ms. Jayalalithaa to face charges in Sri Lanka for the "atrocities" on Tamils committed by the Indian peace keeping troops during its stay on the island from 1987-90.

The TULF and the TNA, many of whose families live in Tamil Nadu, and who travel there regularly, seem to have moved swiftly to disassociate themselves with the campaign against Ms. Jayalalithaa. It what appeared to be a panic-stricken move by the TULF and the TNA, fearing that Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu might face the wrath of Ms. Jayalalithaa, who in 1991 deprived Sri Lankans there of several privileges, including educational facilities, the statement refers to the fact that Tamil Nadu provides "hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and their children" hospitality, including the best educational facilities.

The statement goes on to refer to Tamil Nadu as the "motherland" of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Last month, LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham called India, the "Fatherland" of Sri Lankan Tamils. The veteran Tamil parliamentarian's statement is one of the earliest dissenting remarks against the all-powerful LTTE, which has told his party and other Tamil political parties in the country in a coalition called the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to keep out of the proposed interim administration in the north and east the LTTE hopes to run after peace talks with the Colombo government.

The LTTE has insisted that it be treated as the "sole representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamils", something the TNA coalition has succumbed to. Several leaders of Mr. Anandasangaree's party, which dominated the political mainstream of the Tamil constituencies of the north and east in the pre-LTTE years, have been assassinated by the LTTE as have been leaders of several rival guerrilla groups.

Only a fortnight ago, in an interview in The Sunday Times, TULF president M. Sivasithamparam, a leading lawyer in his day and a former deputy speaker in parliament, who himself survived an assassination bid on him by the LTTE, renounced the party's 'moderate' approach to politics, and said they fully backed the LTTE.

The Anandasangaree statement however guarded the TULF and the TNA vis-a-vis the LTTE by saying they were "perturbed" over the resolution that was passed in the Tamil Nadu state assembly calling for Prabhakaran's extradition, and urged Ms. Jayalalithaa to support the current Norwegian brokered peace process in Sri Lanka.
Reports from Tamil Nadu indicate that the state's chief minister continues to hold her strong anti-LTTE views, and recently told journalists in Chennai that she would ask Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe when they meet next month for the extradition of the rebel leader.

Back to Front Page