Sri Lankan parliamentarian Vijitha Herath of the JVP-led National People’s Power (NPP) quoted words from the LTTE’s Lt. Col. Thileepan this week, during a debate on amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Speaking in parliament, Herath reportedly said,

“We remember in the past that a youth from the Northern Province named Thileepan did a fast unto death, telling us that the PTA will eventually oppress not just those in the North, but those in the South as well. He said that on that day, we will understand.”

“His sacrifice told us that the Act will eventually be used against Tamils, Muslims, and the Sinhalese.”

Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE, fasted to death in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

Herath’s quoting of Thileepan though, comes despite the hard-line Sinhala parliamentarian having consistently spoken out against Tamil demands.

In 2019, he said his party would not back the merging of the Northern and Eastern provinces, as demanded by Tamil parties, stating that it was the “ambition of separatists”.

In 2018, he condemned the then-UNP state minister, Vijayakala Maheswaran, who reportedly said the LTTE was needed in the North-East to prevent the rising violence and anti-social behaviour that is taking place in the region.

In 2015, he said once more that "the JVP is against federalism” in response to the manifesto released by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).