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Push Colombo towards peace, Vaiko tells Centre

National Democratic Alliance member and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary V Gopalasamy aka Vaiko urged the Centre on Wednesday to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to respond positively to the unilateral ceasefire announced by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Addressing a press conference in Madras, Vaiko said that even after the LTTE had announced its ceasefire, the Sri Lankan armed forces continued to attack the Tamils. Within 24 hours of the announcement, more than 150 Tamil rebels were killed by the armed forces, he said.

The central government should intervene effectively and facilitate the peace process initiated by the Norwegian government, he said.

He demanded that the ban imposed on the LTTE in India be lifted to facilitate the peace process. "Although certain unpleasant things might have happened in the past, it is important that the ban be lifted," he asserted.

Vaiko said the international community should perceive the struggle of the Sri Lankan Tamils on par with the struggle of the Palestinians and the people of Ireland.

Asked about Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's observation in Parliament that an Indian delegation had demanded the extradition of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, key accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, he said, "I am 100 per cent opposed to Mr Prabhakaran's extradition."

After the home minister's statement, a spokesman of the external affairs ministry had clarified that the Government of India would not put any hurdles in the peace process in Sri Lanka, he explained.

The Sri Lankan government had thrown into the waste-paper basket numerous agreements signed to give more rights to the Tamils in the past 40 years, he charged.

The Buddhist clergy would never allow any government in Sri Lanka to give the Tamils their due, he said. Hence, the only option open to them was to have an independent homeland, Eelam.

When it was pointed out that this was against the Union government's stand on a unified Sri Lanka, Vaiko said he was aware of it and was only voicing his personal view. He also admitted that several members of the NDA did not agree with his views on Sri Lanka.

Vaiko asserted that All-India Anna DMK general secretary J Jayalalitha would not be able to contest the forthcoming assembly election as she has been convicted in corruption cases.

The Election Commission has already issued guidelines in this regard and the returning officers could execute them, he said.

He was confident that the NDA headed by the DMK in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry would win the assembly election.

He also ruled out the possibility of a coalition government in Tamil Nadu after the election.

He refused to comment on the Pattali Makkal Katchi's reported resolve to form a PMK government in Pondicherry.

He blamed Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress leader Vazhapadi K Ramamurthy for vitiating the relationship between the PMK and the TRC. The TRC was making baseless allegations not only against the PMK but also the MDMK, he claimed. But he evaded a reply on whether the TRC should be excluded from the NDA in Tamil Nadu.

Vaiko opposed the demand to ban the extremist Tamil Nadu Liberation Army and the Tamil National Retrieval Troops, the two organisations which had backed the bandit Veerappan in his abduction of Kannada film star Rajakumar.

He described as unjust the Kerala government's stand on the Mullaperiyar dam. These disputes highlighted the need to nationalise all rivers, he added.

UNI

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