The Hon. Amirthanathan Adaikkalanathan

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member!

¶ 02 We extend our congratulations, on behalf of our Tamil people, to Mr. Vijay, the leader of the victorious party in Tamil Nadu who is set to assume office as Chief Minister following the election results announced yesterday, and to all the successful candidates of that party.

¶ 03 At the same time, we note with regret the defeat suffered by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which governed for the past five years. Yesterday was also the birthday of the Vice President of India; I convey my greetings to him as well.

¶ 04 Hon. Presiding Member, tomorrow marks the 40th remembrance of our Thalaivar Sri Sabarathinam and our Sasi fighters. We are observing this as Unity Week. With your leave, I wish to raise some matters slightly apart from today’s debate.

¶ 05 Our Tamil Eelam liberation struggle suffered two profound losses. First, in 1983, when Thangathurai, Kuttimani and Jegan, founders of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization who had initiated the struggle, were brutally murdered in prison. In that moment of confusion, my leader, Sri Anna, assumed leadership. Thereafter, the youth-led armed struggle for our nation’s liberation recorded many successes. Time is limited, so I move on.

¶ 06 In the early years, fratricidal killings claimed the lives of our leader Sri Sabarathinam and our cadres. For the first time, divisions arose and this became a curse upon our people. That is why we commemorate Unity Week now. Still, we did not give up. Even when the LTTE had emerged as a formidable force with tri-services and TELO faced many challenges and losses, we never endorsed efforts to malign or erase the struggle. We declared in this House that we should never enter into acts that would taint our cause. Accordingly, we forged a period of cooperation with the LTTE, realizing the need for unity.

¶ 07 At that time, my friend, the “Great Man” Sivarajah Sivaram, together with journalists from the East, worked to form the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). TELO joined hands in that endeavor. We went to Kilinochchi, met Mr. Prabhakaran, then leader of the LTTE’s forces, and obtained recognition for this arrangement. With the LTTE’s involvement in the electoral process and campaign, the TNA secured 22 Members of Parliament.

¶ 08 I say this because our leader Sri Sabarathinam was the one who taught and guided us in unity, and TELO did its duty following his path. Thereafter, as the TNA continued to gain influence among the people, another misfortune struck: during local government elections, internal unity was fractured.

¶ 09 Hon. Presiding Member, I will conclude in a minute.

¶ 10 That too became a curse for our people. Yet TELO did not lose heart. We united five parties, including former militant movements, to create the Democratic Tamil National Alliance, which is still active. When our symbol, the lamp, was changed to the fish symbol, some inside and outside this House falsely propagated that our ‘conch’ symbol had been stolen, and those who contested under the conch were our betrayers. We suffered defeat due to such propaganda. This reflects our lack of unity.

¶ 11 Let me end with this, Hon. Presiding Member. On behalf of our fallen cadres, LTTE cadres who died, and our Tamil people who perished, I solemnly say: unless the Tamil National Alliance is reconstituted, just as Tamil Nadu’s youth brought change according to their will, here too—due to our division—the NPP has already set foot in the North and East, creating a dangerous situation for us. Therefore, we must strengthen our unity. TELO stands ready for that.

¶ 12 Thank you. Vanakkam!