LTTE commanders, Parents meet

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 February 2003, 12:41 GMT]
Commanders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officially met with more than five thousand parents of LTTE fighters and martyrs in Palugamam, Batticaloa district, first time after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (Mou), sources in Batticaloa said.



Batticaloa-Ampara districe special commander T. Ramesh and Batticalo-Ampara head of political section of the LTTE, E. Kausalyan spoke at the event.

Commander of Jeyanthan special brigade, Ram, Batticaloa-Ampara special commander of the women's wing, Nilavini, LTTE commanders Nagesh, Prabha, Thaatha, Head of the Political section Banuka, Head of the Medical section of the LTTE Vaamanan, Head of the political section Vava, Head of the Administrative division Reginald, Head of finances Suvi, Officers of the administrative section Kirushan, Karthik and Manalaaru Vijayan and other LTTE officials participated in the event and met with parents.

"Our struggle reached the current stage because it developed into a struggle of the people. Tamil people provided the financial and military strength to support our struggle to be free people. This is the reason why we were able to evolve to be a conventional fighting force able to withstand the strength of the forces from the state," said T. Ramesh.




"The challenge posed by our military capability is what finally enabled both sides to seek negotiations. We are engaging wholeheartedly and honestly in arriving at a peaceful resolution of the conflict at peace talks, fifth round of which is currently being held in Berlin, Germany," he added.

"People who refused to participate in our struggle are suddenly showing a lot of concern for our community. They are falsely pointing an accusing fingers at us of forced recruitment and extortion.

"We do not force anyone to join our movement. We have turned away several underage youngsters who tried to enlist with us. Our senior commander Karuna amman has directed us to meet with parents of fighters to hear their feelings and complaints. We are planning to conduct meetings of this type regularly in all regions," Ramesh added.

"We ask the parents to raise concerns if our cadres have unknowingly committed any mistakes. We urge you to help us rectify these mistakes."




LTTE commanders spent a significant amount of time mingling with the parents and discussion matters of immediate concern to the parents, sources said.