Jaffna Hindu priests urge Vajpayee to change stand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2004, 15:46 GMT]
Hindu priests in Jaffna have appealed to India’s Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that his government should change its stand on the Tamils in the northeast and should fully contribute to the process of achieving their rights, a spokesman for their body told TamilNet Saturday. He said the Jaffna based International Hindu Priests’ Forum sent a letter Friday to Mr. Vajpayee, expressing distress that Delhi is siding with Sinhala leaders while following an adverse policy towards the aspirations of the Tamils.

Copies of the letter were sent to the President and Defence Minister of India.

The following is the Tamil translation of the Hindu priests’ letter to the Indian PM:

“We are very saddened by India’s stand on the Eelam Tamils’ problem. Sinhala chauvinist forces in the south (of Sri Lanka) are denying us our rights. They thrust a genocidal war on us. We were compelled to resort to a defensive war to safeguard ourselves from extermination.

“The Liberation Tigers who are taking forward the struggle for our rights have been accepted by the Tamil people as their sole representatives”.

“The Tigers took part in the peace process completely. The Tigers have been very patient despite several provocations. They have shown a firm commitment to finding a democratic solution (to the ethnic conflict).

The confusion in the south is a reflection of the political culture they (Sinhala leaders) have been fostering for the last five decades”.

“It saddens us to note that the Indian government calls as terrorists the Liberation who have made immense sacrifices while it sides with the southern (Sinhala) political leadership and takes a stand that is adverse to the aspirations of the Tamils.

We urge India to change its stand on the question of the Eelam Tamils in the future and contribute fully”.