On 8 March, the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) petitioned India's Ministry of Home Affairs to remove the Liberation of Tamil Tigers (LTTE) from the "unlawful association "list. The petition was a response to the Indian Home Affairs Ministry's prior designation of the LTTE as a "terrorist organization."
"The TGTE's newest petition requests nothing more than the right for those who support the cause to make their case in the court of public opinion in India, unimpeded by the false perception that somehow espousing Tamil separatism is tantamount to endorsing or even promoting terrorism," TGTE Prime Minister Rudrakumaran told EINPresswire.
TGTE also went on to highlight the dire effects of the LTTE ban on Tamil political advocacy, stating that the ban "hinders the work of those committed to peaceful self-determination for the Tamil people on the island of Sri Lanka and makes the TGTE and association-based activities on behalf of Eelam Tamils impossible."
"Diplomatic support from the Government of India is essential for the realization of the aspirations of Eelam Tamils," the TGTE stated.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had previously claimed that the LTTE's objective for Tamil Eelam was a threat to India's sovereignty and territorial integrity and thus belongs on the "Unlawful Associations" list. However, the TGTE reinforced that the activities of supporters in India for a separate Tamil homeland, Tamil Eelam, "is not an agenda to bring about the secession of a part of the territory of India."
The recent petition is the most recent development in the TGTE's three-year campaign to delist the LTTE as an "Unlawful Association" in India.
Read more about the TGTE's petition here.
In 2020, the TGTE similarly successfully led an application to remove the LTTE from the list of proscribed organisations in the UK. In a landmark decision, Britain's Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission found that the Home Office decision to keep the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) proscribed as a terrorist organisation was "flawed" and unlawful.
Read more here: Britain's decision to ban LTTE is 'flawed', rules commission
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