[TNA position: loud and clear]
Filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court, the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) today affirmed that neither the ITAK nor the TNA had as its objective the setting up of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.
ITAK President Mavai Senathirajah filed this affidavit, when the six petitions filed in Supreme Court alleging that the TNA had as its political objective the formation of a separate government in Sri Lanka were taken up by a Bench comprising Chief Justice Mohan Peries and Justices Rohini Marasinghe and Chandra Ekanayake.
In its Northern Provincial Council election manifesto, the TNA stated that, “We as a people would thus be concerned about our historic habitats, our option to determine what is best for us to ensure self-government in the Tamil-speaking North-East of the country within a united Sri Lanka.”
The manifesto further stated that a power sharing arrangement must be established as a unit of a merged Northern and Eastern Provinces based on a federal structure in a manner also acceptable to the Tamil-speaking Muslim people.
The affidavit further stated that the ITAK’s position pertaining to a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka had also been consistently articulated publicly on several occasions by the TNA and its leaders. (Lakmaal Sooriyagoda) Daily Mirror