New Delhi
20 September 2006
"It has regretted the incident. What more can LTTE do?" visiting Sri
Lankan Member of Parliament and Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader
Sampanthan Rajavarthanam retorted when asked whether the LTTE would want to build
bridges with the Indian leadership by tendering an apology for assassinating the late
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Mr Rajavarthanam is leading a five-member delegation of Sri Lankan-Tamil lawmakers
for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. They have expressed a
desire to call on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and leaders of other political parties.
Observers tracking the ethnic conflict in the island nation see this as an attempt to reach
out to India amid renewed fighting between the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE.
Mr Rajavarthanam acknowledged that the assassination was a "reckless act" and a
"tragic aberration" and hoped the Indian leadership would be "sympathetic" to them. "I
earnestly appeal that [our] special relationship with India be preserved despite this
aberration. The LTTE is a ruthless armed organisation but demonising the LTTE is not
going to solve the Sri Lankan ethnic question," he said on the sidelines of an interactive
session organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs.
Earlier, in his presentation on the path ahead for the peace process, Mr Rajavarthanam
said India has a crucial role to play. He said no other country can help to resolve the
ethnic question. "A message should go out from India that if the Government of Sri Lanka
wants to preserve its unity and territorial integrity, then an acceptable model of
governance like shared sovereignty cannot be dismissed," he said.
"We cannot live under the boot of Government of Sri Lanka for ever," Mr Rajavarthanam
asserted. "Tamils have shown resilience against all odds and will not be suppressed
because they have been a victim of deception and betrayal for a long time ... I am not
holding a brief for the LTTE but for the Tamils, LTTE is on the only instrument or force to
protect their interests and to keep the struggle going," he said.
The MPs is likely to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Security Adviser
MK Narayanan and Foreign Secretary-designate Shiv Shankar Menon. They will
conclude their three-day visit to New Delhi with meetings with the leaders of CPI, CPM
and possibly BJP.
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