Indian parties said urging pressure

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Douglas Devananda said yesterday political leaders in Tamil Nadu have told him that the opposition and the Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka press the Sri Lankan government at this juncture when the renewed support for the Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu has helped them (the Tamil Nadu leaders) to bring pressure on Colombo through the Indian government.

He said that he had spoken to the leader of the Pattali Makkal Kadchi (PMK) Dr. Ramdoss, leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra kalagham (MDMK) Mr. Y Gopalasamy and former minister of the AIADMK Sedappatty Mutthiaah.

The EPDP leader also said that when he had met the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee he (the Indian prime minister) had told him that if any pressure emanates from south India to solve the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka then Delhi would seriously consider and act on the matter.

Douglas Devananda drew attention to the Defence Minister of India George Fernandez's position that they (the Indian government) will express their opposition to the human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan government against the Tamil people.

According to the EPDP leader, Dr. Ramdoss, the founder of the PMK, believes that the only solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is a separate country for the Sri Lankan Tamils.

The chief of the MDMK, Mr. Y. Gopalasamy, according to Devananda, believes that the ethnic conflict can be resolved by granting the Tamils a reasonable political solution which grants them their political rights.

The EPDP leader said that he had contacted the Tamil Nadu politicians over the telephone.