Army-backed paramilitaries threaten TNA MPs

by admin
Nov 21, 2006
 The paramilitary Karuna Group has issued death threats to Tamil parliamentarians from the East, warning them to resign by Nov 27, the National Alliance said in a letter to the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
 
If the 8 parliamentarians from Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, did not resign their posts before Monday, November 27, they would be assassinated, the Army-backed Karuna Group has warned.
 
4 key members of the the TNA, 2 MPs, an ex-MP and a to-be-nominated MP, have been assassinated during the past 2 years.
 
The TNA consists 22 members of Parliament of the 23 Tamil members elected from the NorthEast.
 
Full text of the letter from Tamil National Alliance parliamentary group follows:
 
On the Sunday the19th of November 2006 between 8.00pm and 8.30pm, we the undersigned Members of Parliament from the Batticaloa and Amparai Districts and the National List of the Tamil National Alliance (ITAK) received death threats over the phone. We were informed specifically that if we did not resign from being Members of Parliament we would be killed.
 
The person who spoke to each of us introduced himself as Gunanan of the Thamil Eela Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) Batticaloa Office. He warned that if the eight MPs belonging to the Tamil National Alliance (ITAK) from the Eastern Province did not resign by the 27th of November 2006, all eight MPs will end up receiving the “Maamanithar” (Great Human Being) award posthumously as all eight MPs would be killed. The caller stated that this was the order of their leader.
 
Considering the fact that the Tamil National Alliance (ITAK) has already lost several of its members due to assassinations, these latest death threats must be viewed with utmost seriousness. We would like to take this opportunity to point out that MPs Joseph Pararajasingham and Nadarajah Raviraj were also assassinated after receiving similar death threats.
 
You will appreciate that these threats to our lives greatly affect our ability to duly perform our duties. Therefore in view of the aforementioned we strongly urge you as the custodian of the rights and privileges of the Members of Parliament to take all necessary steps to enable us to safely carry out our duties by the people who voted us to office. Thanking you.
 
T. Kanagasabai M.P.
(Batticaloa District)
 
Thangeswari Kathiraman M.P
(Batticaloa District)
 
S. Jeyanandamoorthy M.P.
(Batticaloa District)
 
P. Ariyanethran M.P.
(Batticaloa District)
 
K. Pathmanathan M.P.
(Amparai District)
 
C. Chandranehru M.P.
(National List)

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