While extending the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for another five years, the Central government has made shocking charges against the organisation, which was hitherto believed to be decimated at the end of the ethnic war in Sri Lanka a decade ago. Since some of the points in the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) claim that Tamilnadu continues to be the hotbed of activities supporting the LTTE and against India, agencies, if not already, should take steps to protect the interests of the country.
According to the MHA, the LTTE ‘continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals, it is necessary to declare LTTE as an unlawful association with immediate effect’. It added that the ‘diaspora continue to spread through articles in the Internet portals anti-India feeling amongst the Sri Lankan Tamils by holding the Government of India responsible for the defeat of the LTTE and such propaganda through Internet, which remains continued, is likely to impact Very Very Important Personsā (VVIPsā) security adversely in India’.
Stating that even after its military defeat in May 2009 in Sri Lanka, the LTTE had not abandoned the concept of ‘Eelam’ (separate land for Tamils) and had been clandestinely working towards the cause by undertaking fund-raising and propaganda activities, the notification said the remnant LTTE leaders or cadres have also initiated efforts to regroup the scattered activists and resurrect the outfit locally and internationally. The LTTEās objective of a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for all Tamils threatened the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and amounted to cession and secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union and thus fell within the ambit of unlawful activities, it further said, and added that the Tamil chauvinist groups and pro-LTTE groups continued to foster a separatist tendency amongst the masses and enhance the support base for LTTE in India and particularly in Tamilnadu. These are no ordinary charges and need to be probed deep.