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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.
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