Vaiko under fire for urging Tamil Nadu to celebrate Prabhakaran’s birthday
Thursday, 27 November 2014 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Reuters: Indian politicians on Wednesday (26) condemned a regional leader for asking people to celebrate the 60th birth anniversary of slain leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the chief of insurgent group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Reportedly, General Secretary of the regional party Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, V. Gopalsamy (Vaiko) urged people in southern state of Tamil Nadu and to Tamils across the world to celebrate Prabhakaran’s birthday.
A self-confessed supporter of Prabhakaran and his idea of a separate homeland for Tamils, Vaiko had also called for prayers in places of religious worship.
“It is very wrong. Prabhakaran and his organisation fought with our army, they killed our Prime Minister. It is a very wrong thing,” said a leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), R.K. Singh, in New Delhi.
Prabhakaran was killed in May 2009. He had founded the LTTE on a culture of suicide before surrender, and had sworn he would never be taken alive.
He was accused of assassinating former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and outlawed in India since 1992.
India’s opposition Congress party called the move anti-national.
“It is very unfortunate that in India someone is celebrating the birthday of Prabhakaran, who is known to have worked for the disintegration of the country and who is known to be a protagonist of terrorism to the pursuit of political goals. I think the nation as a whole must take a forthright stand. This is clearly an unacceptable activity in the country,” said Congress leader Ashwani Kumar.
Another BJP leader G.V.L. Narsimha Rao said if the supporters want to follow someone’s ideology, they shouldn’t make it public.
Meanwhile, members of regional political party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) celebrated Tamil Tiger leader’s birthday with physically challenged students in Chennai on Wednesday.
Prabhakaran led an armed struggle against the Sri Lankan Army in the backdrop of the ethnic strife involving majority Sinhalas and minority Tamils.LTTE waged a 25-year civil war to create a separate homeland for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils.
The group at the height of its power had ruled a de facto state for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority that it called Tamil Eelam, where it collected taxes and had its own courts and police.
