Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian called on India to Complete its unfinished agenda in Sri Lanka
New Delhi, 14 November, (Asiantribune.com with inputs from agency reports) : Pressing for an "acceptable" political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic problem, the proxy LTTE Tamil political party of Sri Lanka today sought India's intervention to stop war and suggested it could bring LTTE chief V Prabhakaran "on board" for a negotiated settlement.
N.Sri Kantha MP appealed to India to "complete its unfinished agenda" in Sri Lanka and ask Mahinda Rajapaksa government to stop its "obsession with a military solution" to the ethnic issue.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) appealed to India to "complete its unfinished agenda" in Sri Lanka and ask Mahinda Rajapaksa government to stop its "obsession with a military solution" to the ethnic issue.
Senior TELO leader N. Sri Kantha and a member of parliament from the TNA said the Sri Lankan government should commit itself to resolve the conflict through a political settlement to avoid "a split" in the country.
"We are ready for an acceptable political solution that addresses the basic aspirations of the Tamil people. That can be had within the framework of a united country," Srikantha, who is accompanied by another TELO party leader who is also a TNA member of parliament M K Sivajilingam, told reporters here.
He said if the Sri Lankan Government agrees to settle the conflict through a political solution that satisfies the "legitimate political aspirations of the Tamils", he was hopeful of bringing Prabhakaran "on board".
"We urge India to put its foot down and tell the Sri Lankan government to halt the ongoing military offensive that has caused immense loss of lives and hardships to people caught between the two warring groups -- LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army in the Wanni region," Srikantha said.
India, which has greater interests in the affairs of the island, should also tell the Sri Lankan Government to come out of its "obsession with a military solution and play a greater role in bringing peace to the nation," he said.
“The LTTE cannot simply be crushed,” Sri Kantha said. “It is a military organisation that still controls a sizeable chunk of Sri Lankan territory. It has a 35-year history. It can be defeated but it cannot be destroyed.”
The Tamil leaders sought India’s immediate intervention to for the sake of a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
Describing the LTTE as a guarantee for the safety of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, Sri Kantha said: “If the LTTE is crushed, the Tamils will be subjugated.”
“If (Sri Lanka) wants a military solution to the national question, there is only one option for the Tamil people… the LTTE,” he added.
He said that LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran, who is wanted in India for the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was a wiser man now.
“Prabhakaran is not a criminal. He is the supreme leader of the group fighting for the cause of the Tamils,” Sri Kantha said.
The MPs asked India to find a permanent solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka that has left thousands dead over the past quarter century.
He said if a political solution was not evolved, all 22 TNA MPs would quit parliament.
“A ceasefire is the need of the hour. We are here to seek the support of the Indian government and the people as we are the immediate neighbors. We are also culturally and linguistically linked. We are requesting this for the sake of the of the defenceless Tamil people,” Sri Kantha said.
- Asian Tribune -
