LTTE using Tamils as human shield - Jayalalithaa

Accusing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam of using the Tamils as a shield in the conflict against the Sri Lankan Army, AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa rejected the argument that the outfit was the sole representative of the Tamils.

“The killing of the innocent Tamils can be avoided if the LTTE allows them safe passage,” she told reporters at the party headquarters in Chennai on Saturday.

She argued that the Sri Lankan Army’s intention was not to kill the Tamils.

“But the killing of innocents is inevitable in a war. No country is an exception.”

She even took exception to the usage, ‘Eelam Tamils’, saying it could not be used since there was no separate Eelam. Instead, she preferred the word, ‘Sri Lankan Tamils.’

As for the demand for India’s intervention to ensure a ceasefire, Jayalalithaa said there was a limit to how far one country could interfere in the internal affairs of another country.

While her party was for securing the rights of the Tamils on a par with those of the Sinhalese, the fact remained that the LTTE was a terrorist organisation.

“Many countries have declared the LTTE a terrorist organisation. It has been banned in India.”

Jayalalithaa said the fast observed by Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan, demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka, was a drama.

Asked about the support extended by the MDMK and the CPI, two allies of the AIADMK, to Thirumavalavan, she said there was no compulsion that the partners in an alliance should have consensus on all issues.

Jayalalithaa wanted to know why the government, which had acted against Sathyam Computers for the Rs.7,000-crore fraud, was not coming forward to probe the spectrum scandal.

While the Sathyam scam was a disgrace to India’s corporate sector, all Indian companies could not be tarred with the same brush, she said.

Asked about the prospects of expanding the AIADMK alliance by including parties like the PMK, she said it would certainly happen.

“Our alliance will be strengthened in the coming days.”

Jayalalithaa, however, made it clear that she had no intention of contesting in the Lok Sabha elections, saying she was already a member of the Assembly.

She said her party wanted elections to the Assembly at any cost. “We will make all efforts towards this.”

- The Hindu