KARUNANIDHI SAYS IN CHENNAI THAT THE LTTE DECISION TO BOYCOTT 2005 ELECTION FINALLY LED TO ITS DESTRUCTION
Posted on November 17th, 2009
By Walter Jayawardhana
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) said in Chennai the LTTEƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s decision to boycott the 2005 Presidential election was a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-hastyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ decision which did not pay attention to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-strategyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ which ultimately led to its military defeat.
In a statement he said, “In the 2005 elections, former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe lost to Rajapakse by around 1.81 lakh votes while seven lakh Tamils had not voted at all following the boycott call. What is the outcome today of that hasty decision?” in an obvious reference to the death of Velupillai Prabhakaran and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He further said former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe who had promised to hold peace talks with the LTTE was defeated by President Rajapaksa by the decision
Karunanidhi said the Tamil Tigers did not take into account the consequences while implementing its war strategy.
The DMK leader pointed out by the Tamil boycott of the elections that prevented seven lakhs of Tamils not voting Wickremasinghe who had promised peace talks with the Tamil Tigers was defeated.
He questioned, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Who would know our silent pain while we reflect on the outcomes of the hasty political action?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
The Karunanidhi statement had been issued in reference to a Ranil Wickremasinghe interview published in a Tamil newspaper.
The Hindu newspaper further reporting on the statement said Commenting on WickremasingheƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s statement , Mr. Karunanidhi also explained how leaders of different Tamil groups and organisations were systematically killed in fratricidal clashes. The absence of a planned approach led to the death of numerous people, particularly the youth, and suffering of those who had to remain in camps for years together. Mr. Karunanidhi said he was forced to record all these out of anguish that those who had to work for the uplift of the Tamils met untimely death. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who had expressed willingness for the fulfilment of the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils, was killed in Tamil Nadu and this was a setback for the Tamil struggle, he added.