COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran praised the manifest support extended by the people of Tamil Nadu for the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka; declared that the Sri Lankan Tamils were friends of India; and urged the Indian government to lift the ban on his organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in his annual Great Hero’s Day oration on Thursday.
“Our freedom movement, as well as our people, have always wished to maintain cordiality with the international community as well as neighbouring India... We wish to express our goodwill and are looking forward to the opportunity to build a constructive relationship,” the Tiger leader said.
“Cordially, I invite those countries that have banned us, to understand our deep aspirations and friendly overtures of our people, and remove their ban on us and recognise our just struggle,” he added.
In a special reference to Tamil Nadu and India, Prabhakaran said: “ Today, there are great changes taking place in India.
The dormant voices in support of our struggle are re-emerging aloud again.” “The positive change in environment gives us courage, and we seek renewal of our relationship with the Indian super power... The racist Sinhala state conspired to bring enmity betweeb our freedom movement and the earlier Indian administration,” he said.
“...However, at no point, did we consider India as an enemy force. Our people always consider India as their friend. They have great expectations that the Indian super power will take a positive stand on our national question,” Prabhakaran said.
“Our struggle does not contravene the national interest, the geo-political interest or economic interest of any outside country,” he assured.
“It may be noted that during our struggle, we have not conducted any act of aggression against any member of the international community,” the Tiger chieftain claimed.
Focussing on the recent pro-Lankan Tamil upsurge in Tamil Nadu, the LTTE leader said: “I wish to express my love and gratitude at this juncture to the leaders and people of Tamil Nadu and the leaders of India, for the voice of support and love they have extended.” “I would cordially request them to raise their voices in favour of our struggle for a Tamil Eelam state and to take appropriate and positive measures to remove the ban which remains an impediment to an amicable relationship between India and our movement,” the LTTE chief said.
Prabhakaran described the current military operations of the Sri Lankan forces as a “major war of genocide” and said that the Sri Lankan government was preventing the real news about it from reaching the outside world. It was using anti-Tamil armed groups to run a “ tyrannical military rule” in areas it had taken.
‘Ofers of setlement fa ke’: The LTTE leader said that the Tamils would not take offers of settlement which would be made only after their military subjugation.
“Does the Sinhala nation want to offer a solution only after the Tamils are suppressed and killed? Does it want to wipe out the true representatives of the Tamils and their bargaining power before offering a solution?” he asked.