‘Struggle for Tamil equality won’t end with LTTE’
May 19, 2009 20:21 ISTSOURCE LINK:
R Sambandhan, parliamentary leader of the Tamil National Alliance in Sri Lanka and a pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam party of Tamils, was the first leader with whom India set up contact after the recent escalation of violence. He led a delegation to visit National Security Advisor M K Narayanan in April and sought India’s intervention.In Chennai now, Sambandhan talks toKrishnakumar P about LTTE’s end, the way forward, the Tamil people’s distrust of President Mahinda Rajapakse and how the dreaded outfit’s end is definitely not the end of the Eelam issue.
Now that the LTTE has been comprehensively defeated, how would you put it in the context of the Tamil ethnic struggle?
The struggle for Tamil equality and justice for Tamils did not start with the LTTE and will not end with LTTE. I am not saying that the LTTE has come to an end. But the Sri Lankan government claims to have dealt a comprehensive military defeat.
If indeed their top leadership has been killed that will be a major setback for the LTTE. The struggle for equality and justice of the Tamil-speaking people is very legitimate and has existed even before the LTTE came.
Image: A photograph released by the Sri Lankan military shows the body of LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran. (Inset) R Sambandhan
Photographs: Sri Lankan Government/Handout
Balawegaya Question?
Sri Lanaka is not like India. Provinces is not a solution for tamils. why Tamils craving for others land? they can easily go to the India or, British, as they are came to the Sinhalese land with British. The tamils dont want equal rights within Sri Lanaka. All they want is ‘Tamil Eelam’. Only Tamil Eelam can be the solution for them. The international commucity should get tamils their homelanad.