Tamil Nadu parliamentarian Thamizhachi Thangapandian said she would apologise to Velupillai Prabhakaran - “the honourable Tamil national leader” – for the Mullivaikkal genocide which saw tens of thousands killed by the Sri Lankan army in 2009.
Speaking in an interview with The Federal, DMK MP Tamizhachi was asked which historical figure she would to dine with.
“Methagu Thesiya Thalaivar Prabhakaran,” she responded, referring to the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Velupillai Prabhakaran and calling him the “honourable Tamil national leader”.
When questioned what she would ask that person, Tamizhachi responded;
“I would apologise. I would ask his pardon for that Mullivaikal tragedy.”
After providing an initial death toll of 40,000, the UN found evidence suggesting that 70,000 were killed in Mullivaikkal in 2009. Local census records indicate that at least 146,679 people are unaccounted for and presumed to have been killed. By examining different sources, including the United Nations, census figures and World Bank data, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) found that the highest estimate of those killed during that final phase could be as large as 169,796.
Though Thamizhachi was elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2019 Indian general election, her party the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), was in power at the time.
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