Former LTTE members seek self-rule for Tamils

The Crusaders for Democracy, a group of former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on Tuesday urged the Sri Lankan government to “honour its commitments” made in the past at the international level on the Tamil question.

According to the 1987 India-Sri Lanka Accord and the Oslo Communique of December 2002, the Sri Lankan government had agreed to the concepts of federalism and internal self-determination, besides recognising the Northern and Eastern Provinces as areas of historical habitation of Tamil speaking people, said the group, which released its manifesto in Sudamalai near Jaffna.

The manifesto wanted the creation of a mechanism that would facilitate self-rule of Tamils. Asked whether the group’s demands were realistic, N. Vithyatharan, coordinator, told The Hindu there was nothing new in the demands of the group. Everything was based on what the Sri Lankan government had accepted. “We want them only to fulfil what they had promised at the international fora.”

While adhering itself to an undivided Sri Lanka, the group of former militants resolved that it would strive to achieve its goals through “peaceful and non-violent means”, Mr. Vithyatharan added. Ten candidates have been fielded in the Jaffna electoral district.

Meanwhile Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ajith P. Perera rebutted former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s remarks that the LTTE was raising its head again in the country.

Mr. Rajapaksa and his colleagues should immediately stop flaring up the country by their “narrow political manoeuvres”, said Mr. Perera, who’s the United National Party’s candidate in the Kalutara electoral district for the upcoming Parliamentary polls. Their slogan of “racism” was rejected by people of the country during the Presidential election in January this year, he added. (The Hindu)