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Pressure LTTE to free citizens in war zone: TULF

COLOMBO: Making a strong plea to the people and leaders of Tamil Nadu to pressure the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to free innocent people caught in the war zone, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree says the war between the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE is in its final stages and the trapped citizens are desperate to escape the clutches of the outfit. In an open letter, he claims: “The war that started about 200 miles away from Pottuvil in the Eastern Province has now reached a point from where the end is only about 10 to 15 miles from Kilinochchi in the Northern Province. More than 90 per cent of the area under the control of the LTTE is already liberated.”

Mr. Anandasangaree says the people who lived under LTTE subjugation for many years are now free and very happy, and if Tamil Nadu has any sympathy for over three lakh people trapped in the area still under the control of the Tigers, it should pressure the outfit to release them without using them as a shield.

“With that, the war comes to an end and the lives of several thousand young boys and girls of the LTTE who are on the war front can also be saved. The LTTE can then sit and talk with the government along with other representatives of Tamils and Muslims. There are about 20 TNA [Tamil National Alliance] parliamentarians now in Tamil Nadu. Let any one of them challenge any part of this statement.”

Mr. Anandasangaree says the charge of annihilation of Tamils is a fabrication of the LTTE, which is endorsed by the TNA parliamentarians who are trying to find an international market to sell it.

“Because of the LTTE’s atrocities many Tamil people had fled the country. Many Tamils from their traditional places of residence had fled their homes and are now living in peace and harmony with the Sinhalese and the Muslims. Over 50 per cent of the Tamils in Sri Lanka now live with them.”

Conceding that there are a number of human rights violations in the island nation, Mr. Anandasangaree says: “There is no point in accusing one person or a specific organisation because there are many involved. The greatest contribution Tamil Nadu can make is to tell the LTTE, with one voice, that it should declare its willingness to give up the demand for separation and agree to a solution that the Tamil Nadu government recommends as a reasonable one.”

Mr. Anandasangaree laments that Sri Lankan Tamils are so unfortunate that Tamil Nadu, “confused and infuriated by the false propaganda of the powerful pro-LTTE forces, shirked its responsibility of safeguarding them and had gone a long way to the point of no return.”

“All the recent agitations and various actions taken by Tamil Nadu had only helped the LTTE, to the detriment of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The grave blunder of Tamil Nadu is acting without sending a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka during this hard period or inviting a delegation from Sri Lanka to know from them the ground situation.”

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