‘Allow LTTE to appear before tribunal’
October 22, 2010 01:20 pm
COLOMBO: The Vikramajit Sen tribunal going into the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in India appears to have got entangled in the question of who can legitimately plead on behalf of the banned organisation.
Supporters of the LTTE like Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P Nedumaran, MDMK chief Vaiko and Tamil Nadu People’s Rights Forum counsel M Radhakrishnan have told the one-man panel that they can get involved because the ban on the LTTE has adversely affected their political life. But Additional Solicitor General A S Chandiok has argued that being a sympathiser or supporter of the LTTE is not enough to plead on its behalf.
As a way out of the tangle and also to mend fences with India, the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) — an offshoot of the post-war LTTE — has asked Delhi to allow LTTE members to come to India and plead before the tribunal.
Making the appeal on Tuesday, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, recently elected ‘Prime Minister’ of the TGTE, said, “An important component of natural justice and the integrity of any judicial system or quasi judicial proceedings is audi alteram partem (both sides to be heard). Thus, we respectfully request the Indian government to ensure that conditions are made conducive for LTTE members to present their case.”
He urged India to dispel the fear that an LTTE cadre who came forward to present his case will be deported to Sri Lanka or be subjected to extrajudicial punishment.
“The transnational community of Eelam Tamils are looking up to India for justice and fairness in our struggle for freedom with justice,” he added.
The tribunal had sat in Udhagamandalam on Wednesday to continue to hear the case of LTTE sympathisers in Tamil Nadu that they be allowed to speak on behalf of the organisation. - (Express News Service)
