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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai
Reacting sharply to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran's call for lifting of ban imposed on the organisation in India, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Thursday demand that Prabhakaran be extradited to face a trial in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
"It [the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber] can neither be forgotten nor forgiven," Jayalalithaa told newsmen in Chennai. "I will be writing to the Centre in this regard," she added.
The Congress and the Tamil Maanila Congress too reacted on similar lines. While TNCC chief E V K S Elangovan sought Prabhakaran's extradition through a statement, TMC legislator, A Gnanasekaran, made the demand in the state assembly.
However MDMK general secretary Vaiko supported Prabhakaran's demand for withdrawal of the ban imposed in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. He also demanded that LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham be allowed to take treatment in India for a kidney ailment.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi, however, played safe. All he would say was that he too watched the televised news conference of the LTTE chief.
Jayalalithaa pooh-poohed Prabhakaran's suggestion that the past be forgotten. "How can we forget the past?" she asked, and said the Indian armed forces must capture Prabhakaran if the Sri Lankan government is reluctant to hand him over.
EARLIER REPORT:Prabhakaran calls Rajiv Gandhi's assassination tragic
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