Some TN political parties object to TELO resolution
Leading Tamil Nadu political parties have raised objections to a resolution adopted by the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) at its recent convention calling for a political solution that falls short of a separate state, party officials said yesterday.
TELO had its annual convention at Vavuniya last week and adopted a resolution, among others, calling for the re-merger of the North and the East and the evolution of a federal solution. The party’s newly appointed National Organiser M.K. Sivajilingam told Daily Mirror that Tamil Nadu political party representatives were not happy about it.
“They phoned and asked me why we agreed to a solution within a united Sri Lanka. They want us to demand a separate state,” he said.
However, Mr. Sivajilingam declined to reveal the names of these Tamil Nadu parties that contacted him over the phone.
TELO is the pioneer armed group that led an insurgency against the state. It was after the signing of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord that TELO, along with some other militant groups, joined the democratic stream. The party was registered in 1987 and since then, it has enjoyed parliamentary representation with TELO members Selvam Adaikkalanathan and Vino Noharathalingam in the current Parliament. They contested on the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) ticket.
Mr. Sivajilingam said no Tamil party would demand a separate state in Sri Lanka after the war ended in 2009.
“We are for an extensive power sharing arrangement within a united Sri Lanka. However, we do not know where the political struggle will lead unless a political solution is given,” he said.
DM