NEW DELHI: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) will have to make the people of India appreciate that it "deeply regrets" the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhiin May 1991.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs on Wednesday, R. Sampanthan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader, described the assassination as "thoroughly unacceptable."

Opposed to violence

According to him, the TNA was not a front for the LTTE, and was totally opposed to violence. "I don't know how to fire a gun," he said, even while extensively quoting LTTE ideologue Anton Balasingham's remarks in a different context.

Alleging that 1,000 civilians had been killed during the recent clashes between the Tigers and the Sri Lankan military, Mr. Sampanthan argued that the role of the international community had been "diminished" in recent months.

Referring to the breakaway Karuna group, he said armed outfits had been allowed to operate with impunity on account of the support extended by the armed forces.

The issue of civilian deaths and custodial killings had been raised by TNA parliamentarians with both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and inside Parliament, but there was not a single instance when wrongdoing had been punished, Mr. Sampanthan claimed.

In his view, "demonising" the LTTE, which he described as a "ruthless organisation," was not going to solve the ethnic problem. The Tamil peoplefelt that the LTTE was their only instrument of protection.

Mr. Sampanthan argued that the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka could no longer be sacrosanct if governance was not restructured to take on board Tamil rights and sensitivities.

India, he felt, could convey the message that Sri Lanka's territorial integrity and sovereignty could be preserved only if there was an acceptable alteration of the state structure and sharing of sovereignty with the Tamil people.

G.G. Ponnambalam, TNA MP, said India was the only country that understood the "root causes" of the Tamil problem, and could "balance" the "engagement" with the Sri Lankan state. New Delhi, he hoped, would look after the interests of the Tamil people.

Intervening in the discussion, Sri Lankan High Commissioner Romesh Jayasinghe said it was the LTTE that walked away from the negotiating table in April 2003. "All efforts to bring the LTTE back to the table had failed," he pointed out.

Rejecting the contention that a military solution was being pursued by Mr. Rajapaksa, he said the President had established an all-party conference to come out with proposals to resolve the ethnic conflict. The committee would submit a report in time.

Mr. Jayasinghe was categorical that it was the LTTE that triggered the latest clashes with the Government forces by a series of bombings and assassinations. It could not achieve its goal of a separate State.

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