Draw distinction between Tigers and civilians, says Mukherjee

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee urged "friends" in Tamil Nadu to draw a distinction between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and the Tamil civilians of Sri Lanka.

The Minister was elaborating on the Government's policy vis-A-vis the Sri Lankan Tamil issue at the one-day national convention of Block Congress Committee (BCC) and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents in New Delhi.

Donning the mantle of a teacher on the Government's policies in general and foreign policy initiatives in particular to prepare the party cadre for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Mukherjee said it was at India's request that Sri Lanka agreed to a near ceasefire for 48 hours to facilitate safe passage for Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE.

Referring to the concern expressed by "friends" from Tamil Nadu about the plight of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, the Minister said India had informed the Sri Lankan Government about its concern while asserting that it had no sympathy for the LTTE. Not only was the LTTE a banned organisation in India, the country had also been consistently seeking the extradition of its head V. Prabhakaran.