Development the priority- TMVP leader

TMVP leader MP Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan said yesterday that Easterners seek urgent development at the moment, not police powers.

Addressing senior media personnel in Colombo, MP Muralitharan said the Eastern PC was functioning well as per the 13th Amendment. Development is a priority for the Eastern region.

"We also have to win the hearts and minds of the Sinhala people to forge amity. If we demand police powers now, it could lead to suspicion."

Referring to the situation in India, he said the Tamils in India can raise their voice for the Tamils in Sri Lanka, but such sympathy should not translate into support and protection for the Tigers. If they do so they will soon face different problems in Tamil Nadu through the LTTE.

"The military operations are successful. They cannot be stopped. India's position is that the LTTE is a terrorist organisation. And in case those in Tamil Nadu want to send relief to Wanni civilians, it should be channelled through the Lankan Government," he added.

He said the Indian leaders he had met were vehemently opposed to the idea of a separate state in Sri Lanka but they were supportive of devolution.

He said LTTE leader Prabhakaran does not want talks or a political solution, recalling how the LTTE assassinated former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

At the same gathering, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama explaining the recent developments in Tamil Nadu said the recent activities there did not reflect the policies of New Delhi. He explained that in yesterday's incident at Rameswaram involving persons from the film industry, although the demonstrators had shouted pro LTTE slogans including making a hero of Prabhakaran, the police had intervened to prevent the LTTE flag being raised.

This showed that although there were pro LTTE politics in Tamil Nadu, the official position was different. The IDPs in Sri Lanka were being used as a tool to putting pressure on New Delhi. The message of New Delhi has been that it stands for the rights of the Tamil people and against the LTTE.