A multitude of Tamil civil society groups condemned the "deception and deviatory polity" of the TNA's leadership, in a memorandum presented to the party leader's on Tuesday, reported Tamilnet.

It added that the impressive list of signatories to the memorandum, including trade unionists, community leaders, religious leaders, academics, profressionals and educationalists, urged "firmness of leadership in political stand" and asserted that "Tamils are not a ‘minority’ requesting concessions, but a nation demanding self-rule".

See here for Tamilnet report in full.

Extracts of the memorandum, translated and abridged by Tamilnet, are reproduced below:

"It is deplorable that the TNA leadership that had earlier decided to come out of the futile talks with Colombo, decided to re-commence the talks at a time when the war crimes issue was to be taken up by the UN. This was only an attempt to protect Colombo.

The TNA leadership backed out from spelling out the status of Eezham Tamils as a nation and their right for self-determination, at the conference convened by Congress parliamentarian Dr. Natchiappan in New Delhi.

TNA leaders Sampanthan and Sumanthiran, by their polity of reducing Tamils as ‘minorities,’ differ from the broadly accepted political fundamentals of the Tamil National Alliance.

‘Minorities’ have to stop at requesting cultural concessions. Only a nation could demand for self-rule. Eezham Tamils are a nation needing self-rule.

The talk of ‘Equal Rights’ is not a substitute for autonomy or self-rule. Equal Rights could be achieved even by the restoration of the Rule of Law. But in the context of the island, even restored Rule of Law cannot resolve the issues faced by Tamils.

Ideas of nation and the right to self-determination not necessarily mean secession. No one can place a stigma on Tamils claiming for recognition of their status as a nation and for asserting to their right to self-determination.

Tamils look upon the TNA and mandate it in every election, not as an ordinary political party of ‘electoral politics,’ but as a political liberation movement rising above electoral politics.