NEW DELHI: The Indian government banned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and declared it an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

In a suo moto statement on the concluding day of the Rajya Sabha the Home Minister S.B. Chavan said that the government was of the view that the “larger objective of LTTE goes beyond establishment of Tamil Eelam in North Easter parts of Sri Lanka and poses a threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country.” He said that in pursuance of its objective the LTTE had indulged in several terrorist acts in India.

Chavan said the declaration of LTTE as an unlawful association will strengthen the hands of the government and the union government “in containing the activities of LTTE and eliminating the threat posed to our country by this organization.”

Stating that the government had received information that the LTTE had recruited some Tamil young men Chavan said that it formed them into an organization called Tamil National Retrieval Troops gave them training and weapons in Jaffna and sent them back to carry out LTTE’s tasks and to work for separation of Tamil Nadu from India “We are also aware that the activities of LTTE arc providing encouragement and inspiration to chauvinist groups in Tamil Nadu which openly preach secession and engage in unlawful activities.” he added that the government had also come to know that the LTTE had established links with the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) which has already been declared an unlawful association.

Responding to clarifications sought by several members Chavan said that the government would study whether it was possible to declare Prabhakaran and other accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case as proclaimed offenders. He also assured that the Government would consider announcing a reward to anyone who helped in the arrest of the main accused.

In reply to questions over the delay in banning the organization Chavan said that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act required collection of evidence. He said that the Government was now in possession of “enough evidence.” Declining to share the evidence with the government Chavan said that it would not be proper to disclose details at this juncture He said that it did not matter whether the organization was based in the country or outside and the only criteria was the activities of the particular organization.

He said that the LTTE had declared a different goal in the beginning. He said that India was “trying to see that autonomy was granted to Jaffna area but we had opposed an independent Jaffna.” Thereafter he said the LTTE embarked on a path which was detrimental to the safety of our country.

Defending the Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha Chavan said that she may have spoken in support of LTTE some years back but consequent to the change in the activities of the organization she had also changed her stand. “The organization had started creating problems for India.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 29, 1992