Q. Mr.Nedumaran , what are your views on the action taken by the Indian authorities against the leader of the LTTE, Mr.Velupillai Prabhakaran, in connection with Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination?

A. It is childish to suggest that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of a great national movement was connected with this murder. It is clear that this is being done with a political motive.

Two Commissions of Inquiry have been appointed to investigate and report on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Upto now, these Commissions have not come to any finding. Nor have they accused anybody. But even before these Commissions have come to their conclusions, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Criminal Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has chosen to take action against the LTTE leader and that too, not under the ordinary law but under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act 1987.(TADA). This has been done despite the fact that Tamil Nadu, is not a ‘notified area’ under TADA, like for instance Haryana. Under TADA, the normal rules of evidence do not apply and alleged confessions made to a police officer by one accused can be used against another accused. Under TADA, the burden of proving the allegations will not be on the prosecution.

These proceedings outside the normal law and under TADA are a deliberate attempt to implicate Prabhakaran and to create a division in the growing unity between the people of Tamil Nadu and the people of Tamil Eelam. But the use of TADA to suppress a freedom struggle will fail in the same way as the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act failed in Sri Lanka. India’s leader Netaji was charged with murder after the second world war, by the colonial ruler. It would appear that India’s way is not different from that followed by the colonial ruler. But,the British government could not separate Netaji from the hearts of the Indian people. In the same way, India cannot separate Prabhakaran from the hearts of the Tamil people. India will fail to negate his influence. That much is certain.

Q. It is said in some quarters that the people of Tamil Nadu have turned against the Tamil Eelam struggle. Do you agree?

A. It is an utter falsehood to say that the people of Tamil Nadu have turned against the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle. It is equally false to say that they have turned against the Liberation Tigers. The feelings of the Tamil people continue to smoulder beneath the surface. The present troubled situation will change and once again support for the struggle of their brothers and sisters of Tamil Eelam will emerge in the open.

Q. I wonder whether you would care to comment on the statement by the columnist Taraki in the Sri Lanka Sunday Island that your visit abroad was with a view to seeking asylum in an European country?

A. I have not sought asylum anywhere. There is no need for me to ask for asylum anywhere. In Tamil Nadu, I am a leader of a political party which has clear views on the Tamil Eelam issue. I have expressed those views openly both inside India and outside. I have at no time felt the need for me to hide my views. After I return to India, I will continue to express these views and carry out my duties as a political leader committed to representative democracy and freedom. If as a result of this, I have to meet oppressive actions, then I will meet them in India itself. In fear of such actions, I have no need to seek asylum in a foreign country.

Q. India is seeking to repatriate Tamil refugees from Tamil Nadu. What are your views?

A. Refugees came to Tamil Nadu, because there was no peace in their homeland, because there was an armed conflict and they feared the actions of the Sri Lankan army and its para military forces. This situation has not changed today. It is only when peace returns that the refugees should go back. To send them from refugee camps in Tamil Nadu to refugee camps in Sri Lanka is a violation of elementary and basic human rights. Tibetan refugees and the Dalai Lama still continue to reside in India. Refugees from Bangaladesh, Pakistan and elsewhere continue to reside in India. India has not driven them out. To send out Tamil refugees is to raise doubts about India’s motives. If India does not wish to accept responsibility for Tamil refugees then it should hand over the responsibility to the UNHCR. That would be the just way of handling the situation. But to hand over Tamil refugees to the Sinhala government is not very different from sending them to a killing field.

Q. Mr.Nedumaran, Tamil Nation has been greatly concerned about the detention of its founding editor, Mr.Sivanayagam. What were your responses to his arrest?

A. When Mr. Sivanayagam was arrested, I was truly astonished. He was one who had sought asylum in India. He had peacefully carried out his duties as a writer and a journalist. Tamils the world over know him well. Several political leaders and journalists in Tamil Nadu know him well. But his sudden arrest, without any cause whatever, under the National Security Act, was not only an injustice to him but it was a death blow to the cause of press freedom. At no time had he done anything which was subversive or against the security of the Indian state. He was not interested in that. He wrote about his people and their struggle. He wrote to further the understanding of the reading public in India and elsewhere of the issues of the Tamil Eelam struggle. I personally find it hurtful that Tamil Nadu journalists have failed to condemn this attack on one of their fellow journalists. Everytime that Mr.Sivanayagam is brought to Court, he is manacled - and this inhuman and degrading treatment continues to be meted out to him even today. This reveals the true nature of the justice dispensed to Mr.Sivanayagam. I hate to say this but it is also a reflection of the corruption of Indian democracy. The expatriate Tamil community should raise its voice in support of the moves to free Mr.Sivanayagam.

Q. Did you find your visit to Europe and Canada useful?

A. My visit to Europe and to Canada, helped me to understand several truths. I have seen the strength of the committment of the Tamils in these lands to the Tamil Eelam struggle. I have also seen the support given the struggle by the political leaders in the countries I visited.

For instance, the support of fraternal organisations at the London Seminar was heartwarming. The message from the Tamil associations at the London Seminar was: ‘Yes, we want peace - but that peace must be with Tamil Eelam’. I see that in the world today, many new structures are emerging within which nations may live in peace without losing their national identity.

Q. What do you see as India’s role in the Tamil Eelam struggle?

A. In the past, Indira Gandhi’s approach was to some extent in favour of the Tamil Eelam cause, but with Rajiv Gandhi this changed completely.

The India which in Nehru’s time and in Indira Gandhi’s time,supported freedom struggles in many parts of the world - this same India in Rajiv Gandhi’s time tried to suppress the Tamil Eelam freedom struggle by sending the IPKF. The wrong direction that Rajiv Gandhi gave led to defeat. Those in the Indian Government should recognise this truth and change their ways. To seek to follow Rajiv Gandhi’s wrong lead in the future will only serve to compound the errors that have already been made. To seek to do that will not be in the interest of either India or Tamil Eelam. I know that the people of Tamil Eelam have always sought India’s support. I know that even now their hand of friendship remains extended to India. India should not reject that hand - neither should it seek to twist that hand. It should take that hand in friendship. The mistakes of the past should be corrected, not compounded.