"I want a Tamil Government... I want a Tamil country... That country I dream of is coming up in Sri Lanka's Jaffna. I went there to salute that land.."

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Tamil Nadu, India Madurai, Dec 6 : Dalit Panthers of India leader T Tirumavalavan today disclosed that he had recently visited 'Eelam' (Tamil-dominated areas in Sri Lanka) to "salute that land".

"Police were searching my whereabouts when I did not participate in an agitation called by the Tamil Protection Movement (led by him) in Chennai last month. Now I tell you, where did I go. I want a Tamil Government... I want a Tamil country... That country I dream of is coming up in Sri Lanka's Jaffna. I went there to salute that land," he said addressing a demonstration to press for making Tamil as the language of the Madras High Court bench here.

Tirumavalavan said he also went to Jaffna to meet the LTTE leaders with whom DPI was "having good friendship". About 20 Sri Lankan MPs gave him a "warm welcome." "The so called Dravidian leaders, who claimed that Tamil was their breath, could not do anything in the last 30 years of their rule to make Tamil the official language. However, in Eelam, LTTE leader Prabhakaran was able to make Tamil official language at all levels," he said.

About 500 persons, including advocates, participated in the agitation, organised by the 'Tamil Protection Movement'.

He said the movement's weekly agitation to "retrieve and save" Tamil would be held till their demand to make it the official language at all levels was met.