Tamils should secede if Colombo impasse persists - ACTC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2004, 16:02 GMT]
'The Tamil people will have to exercise their right to self determination and secede if the political impasse in Colombo were to continue' the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, the oldest Tamil party in Sri Lanka, declared at its annual convention in Jaffna town Sunday.

The party's annual convention Sunday adopted the following resolutions, accordng to Mr. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, who was elected the party's secretary.

1. The Sri Lankan government should pay five hundred thousand rupees as compensation to the next of kin of the persons who went missing after they were arrested by the Sri Lanka army in Jaffna in 1996/97.
2. SLA should vacate the homes of people in Jaffna and the displaced should be assisted to resettle in their properties.
3. Fishermen in the northeast should be allowed to ply their trade freely - any intimidation by the Sri Lanka navy.
4. Tamils should enjoy the same rights that the Sinhala people are entitled to.

The ACTC annual convention was held at its office on Beach Road in Jaffna town. About 200 party activists attended the convention. Mr. Appapillai Vinayagamoorthy was elected President of the party .