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India has invited three democratic Tamil leaders for discussions. The three leaders, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree, leader of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) Dharmalingam Sidharthan and T. Sritharan of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Front (EPRLF-Padmanabha), are leaving for New Delhi today (Sept 25). While Mr. Anandasangaree is the leader of the largest Tamil political party, which held the position of opposition leader in Parliament, the other two parties – PLOTE and EPRLF – are ex-militant groups that entered democratic politics after accepting the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987. This invitation came close on the heels of the decision of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to meet a parliamentary delegation of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Analysts are of the opinion that India refuses to recognize TNA as a democratic party because of close links with LTTE which is proscribed by India as a terrorist outfit. Indian newspaper, the Hindu said that the invitation to the Tamil parties is believed to be part of New Delhi's exercise for a better understanding of the situation and to explore the possible role it can play to resolve the ethnic problem. "Some time ago we had expressed our desire to visit India to exchange views on the prevailing situation as well as the possible role New Delhi could play in resolution of the ethnic conflict. We have just received a message asking us to reach New Delhi. At the moment we have no idea about the details of our itinerary and the authorities we could expect to meet in the course of our possibly three-day stay," one of the three leaders travelling to India told The Hindu. The newspaper added that the visit of leaders of the three Tamil parties to New Delhi, particularly after the refusal of the Prime Minister to meet the parliamentary delegation of TNA, is bound to be watched with interest in diplomatic and political circles in the Indian capital. It could be interpreted as a reaffirmation of the Indian position that it does not consider LTTE as the "sole representative" of the north-east. Further it could be a reflection of the Indian approach towards the "marginalised" Tamil political voices in the face of the guns of the Tamil Tigers, The Hindu said. One of the leaders visiting New Delhi told The Hindu that in their interaction with authorities in India, they intended not only to apprise them of the current humanitarian crisis, particularly in the north-east, but also how it has been aggravated by the acts of the LTTE. "No doubt people are suffering the most. But the LTTE is also exploiting the situation to the hilt," the leader. www.news.lk
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