TAMIL NADU ASSEMBLY MEMBERS DEMAND THAT POLITICAL PARTIES SUPPORTING LTTE SHOULD BE BANNED IN THE STATE

By Walter Jayawardhana

After the police announcement that it was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who gunned down five Indian Tamil fishermen the Tamil Nadu administration of M. Karunanidhi is seriously considering banning the political parties like Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) who have declared open support for the banned terrorist group in India.

Members in the Tamil Nadu State assembly demanded that political parties supporting the LTTE should be banned in the state and their leaders arrested for the support of the outlawed terrorist group.

Political observers said Karunanidhi is taking this opportunity as a save face measure to avoid serious allegations against his administration by the former Chief Minister and leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( AIADMK), Jayalalitha Jeyaram that his administration has let down the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu having a lax security situation allowing the Sri Lankan terrorist group , LTTE to operate freely in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which is the home of more than 60 million Tamils in the world.

India’s Janatha Party leader Subramanian Swami has alleged that Karunanidhi’s daughter herself is a secret supporter of the LTTE and Vaiko’s party, the MDMK could possibly be run with funds supplied by the terrorist group. By banning Vaiko’s party Karunanidhi could also weaken the opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly. In a contrast immediately after the assassination of five Tamil fishermen on March 29 in a statement made on the floor of the house Karunanidhi blamed the deaths of the Kanyakumari fishermen on the Sri Lanka Navy.

On April 28 in the latest statement made on the floor of the Tamil Nadu legislature Karunanidhi said he would consult the Central government in New Delhi before taking a decision to ban political parties who are supporting the LTTE in Tamil Nadu.

Replying to a question by Indian Congress Party member C. Gunasekeran on the floor of the Tamil Nadu State Assembly Karunanidhi said he would officially inform the Central government about the involvement of the LTTE in the killings of the five fisherman and abduction of 12 more Indian citizen fishermen that was revealed after police investigations and seek the advice of the Central government of New Delhi before banning any political parties.

The Indian news agency UNI said: “The state government would also let know the centre, the views expressed by leaders of various political parties in the house, seek their opinion and take a decision on slapping a ban on political parties, which supported the LTTE.

“Mr Gnanasekaran demanded the arrest of Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko for offering open support to the LTTE. He said the LTTE has emboldened to kill Indian fishermen because of the support offered to it by political parties in the state and demanded that the government impose a ban on them.”

A day before the controversy the Commissioner of Police in India’s Tamil Nadu said that the murder of five Indian fishermen which had been blamed on the Sri Lankan Navy by many political parties in Tamil Nadu had been actually committed by gun men of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Police Commissioner D.G.P. Mukherjee said six LTTE cadres arrested April 11 have admitted the Sri Lankan terrorist group had killed those fishermen and 12 more Indian fishermen had been abducted by them and are in their custody.

They have said that the LTTE marine wing, Sea Tiger members shot and killed them thinking the Indian fishermen were spying on their gun running activities.