Govt extends LTTE ban, cites remnant TN cadres

Government on Tuesday extended the ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) for another five years, saying the activities of "remnant cadres, dropouts, sympathisers, supporters" who were traced in Tamil Nadu will be detrimental to country's integrity and interests.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the notification emphasisng that the LTTE has not abandoned the concept of ‘Eelam’, a separate homeland for all Tamils, even after its military defeat in May 2009 in Sri Lanka and has been "clandestinely" working towards this goal by undertaking fund raising and propaganda activities.

The remnant LTTE leaders and cadres have also initiated efforts to regroup the scattered activists and resurrect the outfit locally and internationally, it said. The ban imposed on 14 May, 2014 ended on Tuesday and hence it was re-imposed.

Extending the ban under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the MHA reasoned that the "the activities of the LTTE remnant cadres, dropouts, sympathisers, supporters who have been traced out recently in the State of Tamil Nadu suggest that the cadres sent to Tamil Nadu would ultimately be utilised by the LTTE for unlawful activities".

It said the LTTE has been "inimically opposed" to India’s policy on their organisation and action of the State machinery in curbing their activities. "The activities of pro-LTTE organisations and individuals have come to notice of the Government of India that despite the ban in force, attempts have been made by these forces to extend their support to the LTTE," the notification said.

Emphasising that the demand for Elam thretens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, the MHA said the separatist Tamil chauvinist groups and pro-LTTE groups continue to foster a separatist tendency amongst the masses and enhance the support base for LTTE in India and particularly in Tamil Nadu,

"It will ultimately have a strong disintegrating influence over the territorial integrity of India, hence, the strong need continues to exist to control all such separatist activities by all possible lawful means," the notification said.

Through the internet, the MHA noted, the diaspora continue to spread anti-India feeling amongst the Sri Lankan Tamils by holding India responsible for the defeat of the LTTE. "Such propaganda through Internet, which remains continued, is likely to impact Very Very Important Persons (VVIP) security adversely in India," it said.

"The Central Government is of the opinion that the aforesaid activities of the LTTE continue to pose a threat to, and are detrimental to, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India as also to the public order and, therefore, it should be declared as an unlawful association," the MHA said as it invoked relevant sections of UAPA to extend the ban.

It said LTTE’s "continued violent and disruptive activities" which are prejudicial to the integrity and sovereignty of India and its "strong" anti-India posture pose a "grave threat" to the security of Indian nationals and it was necessary to declare it as an unlawful association with immediate effect.