COLOMBO: There appears to be an attempt by some political parties to whip up an India-sentiment among the Tamils of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province in the run up to the August 17 parliamentary elections with the aim of ending the dominance of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which is perceived to be pro-India.
Authoritative sources told Express that this is being done by two pro-Tamil Tiger parties, the Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF) led by Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, and the Crusaders For Democracy (CFD) led by Nadesapillai Vithyatharan.
The sources pointed out that these two parties had launched their election manifestos not only to enunciate their political plans but to revive memories of the “anti-Tamil” actions of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) from 1987 to 1990.
The TNPF launched its manifesto on August 2 at Valvettithurai, the homeown of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. It was on August 2, 1989, that 63 Tamil civilians were killed by the IPKF in reprisal for an ambush by the LTTE. TNPF cadres paid floral tributes at a site of the massacre and party chief Gajendrakumar attacked the IPKF.
Similarly, the CFD released its manifesto at the site of the “fast unto death” of LTTE cadre Thileepan at Nallur in 1987. Sources suspect that the Rajapaksa faction of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA), along with a pro-LTTE section of the Tamil Diaspora, is behind the anti-Indian actions of the TNPF and CFD.