By IANS,
Chennai : PMK leader S. Ramadoss Sunday described Tamil Tigers supremo V. Prabhakaran as a “freedom fighter” and compared him to former South African president Nelson Mandela, Palestine leader Yasser Arafat and Indian freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose.
“Tigers’ leader Prabhakaran is a freedom fighter and like Nelson Mandela and late PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) chief Yasser Arafat is heading a ‘liberation organisation’ of the Tamils,” Ramadoss told reporters.
“Freedom fighters being branded terrorists is nothing new. Just as Subhash Chandra Bose, the founder of the Indian National Army, was described as a ‘terrorist’ by the colonial British. It is no wonder that Prabhakaran fighting for the liberation of 50 million Sri Lankan Tamils is being dubbed as one by Sinhalese chauvinist politicians,” Ramadoss said.
Ramadoss lambasted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for doing little for the “liberation” of Tamils.
“Karunanidhi has been issuing platitudes for Eelam and has referred to Prabhakaran as a friend and freedom fighter only to retract later.”
“India is yet to call for a permanent ceasefire, thereby allowing the chauvinist Sri Lankan regime to continue killing innocent Tamils,” he said.
“In their right minds, Congress and DMK leaders ought to endorse (Saturday’s) announcement by Jayalalitha indicating Tamil Eelam as the only acceptable solution to the ethnic minority problem in the island,” Ramadoss added.
The statement comes as the Sri Lankan military has pushed the Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Ealem (LTTE) to a small eight square km area in the island’s northeastern region, the only strip of land under its control now.
Though there is no official word on the location of the elusive LTTE leader, Tamil nationalist leader P. Nedumaran told reporters in Salem in Tamil Nadu that Prabhakaran was “continuing to lead his troops from the front”.