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| Tuesday, 6 July 2004 |
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| TNA congratulates Indian PM The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has congratulated the new Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The TNA in a press release said it is proud that the Prime Minister of India is from a minority community and enjoys a high international academic reputation. The release added: At this hour of crisis, we need a scholastic Statesman, who possesses all the qualities of a value led leadership. We also note with happiness the compassionate qualities of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi whose election campaign highlighted the plight of vulnerable groups in society. "We also note with gratitude the noble gesture of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi in pardoning Mrs. Nalini Murugan from execution. We hope the same compassion will be extended to all Tamils who have already undergone fifty years of deprivation and struggled for human rights and security. "Your Government, nurtured in the Gandhian tradition is attempting to raise the standard of good governance based on fundamental values. These values can also propel India into global leadership and help her come into strong partnership with her neighbours. Likewise we plead with the Indian government to apply the same fundamentals to the Tamils and to forget the past as a bad dream, and help us forge a new future in a united Sri Lanka in a positive partnership with India. "We remember with gratitude the support given by the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in highlighting the plight of the Tamils and using the word genocide in this context. Unfortunately the events that followed stood in the way of the eternal cordiality between us that prevailed from time immemorial. The Tamil National Alliance is overjoyed to see a visible change reflected in the Indian thinking in recognising the untold suffering of the Tamil minority. It has reached a point where the Tamils cannot suffer any more. The panacea for all the political ills we are facing is to grant a meaningful federalism in terms of the Oslo declaration to preserve our ethnic and linguistic identity and to live with dignity, self-respect and security. We have often said that there is an umbilical cord between mother India and the Tamils. If not for Bharatha Matha, who else could come to our rescue. This written message does not convey in full our appreciation of the renewed support for the Tamil cause and we hope that an early opportunity can be given for a constructive dialogue between ourselves. We also note with pleasure the appointment of J. N. Dixit as your National Security Advisor. His overall grasp of the Sri Lankan polity and understanding should, as his recent pronouncements indicate, prove an asset in helping us find a lasting solution to the festering wound that has disfigured the beautiful image of the island for more than half a century. India will not only appreciate the reality of the mandate given by the Tamil people in the recent elections but also recognise the negotiating partners' parity of status in the noblest Gandhian tradition." |
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