‘LTTE has done much damage to Tamils’ - National News Updates

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Tamil Nadu PWD Minister Durai Murugan at a meeting in the Parliament House on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: The Union government on Wednesday said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had done much damage to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka and asked the Tigers to lay down arms after releasing all civilians. It, however, made it clear that it could not force a sovereign government of another country to take a particular line.
Proscribed organisation
Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India continued to support a negotiated political settlement within the framework of an undivided Sri Lanka acceptable to all communities, including the Tamils. The LTTE remained a proscribed organisation in India, he pointed out.
The statement evoked a strong protest from Tamil Nadu members. They expressed their dissatisfaction and wanted it withdrawn. The MPs also wanted India to intervene to stop the war in the island nation.
“This cannot be the statement of the Indian government. It speaks the language of the Sri Lankan government,” the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) members said.
They stormed into the well and subsequently walked out to register their displeasure after forcing two adjournments.
However, Mr. Mukherjee said India had no instrumentality under which it could force a sovereign government to follow a particular line. He said he was ready to make “corrections” in the statement if there were “discrepancies.”
“Sadly, some of those escaping from the conflict have been caught in cross-fire and, in recent incidents have been stopped and even killed by LTTE cadres. As the conflict enters what may be the final phase of military operations, the LTTE would best serve the interest of the Tamils by immediately releasing all civilians and laying down arms,” Mr. Mukherjee said in the statement.
Condition of civilians
While pointing out that a serious source of concern to India was the condition of civilians and internally displaced persons, mostly Tamils, caught in the zone of conflict, Mr. Mukherjee put their number at 70,000. The LTTE was reportedly using them as human shields.
The Minister said:
“Rest assured that our strong concerns for the safety, security and welfare of civilians caught in the conflict have led us to stay actively engaged to prevent a further deterioration of humanitarian conditions.
“We have sent relief supplies to the civilians and the internally displaced persons, facilitated access by international and United Nations organisations and suggested ways for civilians and displaced persons to escape the conflict zone.”

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