Kolkata, April 25 (Inditop) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Saturday said that while the LTTE was a terrorist outfit and responsible for killing his father, the rights of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka are “sacrosanct” and everything should be done to ameliorate their plight.
“For me the Sri Lanka issue is very, very simple. There are Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka who are suffering because of the war taking place there. It is our duty to reduce that suffering. The government has tried earlier by applying pressure. We are concerned about the plight of Tamil civilians and we will do everything to reduce their suffering,” Rahul Gandhi said at a press conference here.
A fierce battle is raging in Sri Lanka’s north where the army is closing in on the LTTE, restricting them to less than 10 sq km of area. Over 100,000 Tamil civilians caught in the war zone have fled to the military-held area, creating a humanitarian crisis of gigantic proportions.
“LTTE is a branded a terrorist organisation. Personally they have been responsible for killing my father. I’m personally not a supporter of the LTTE. The rights of the people are sacrosanct. When it comes to supporting the rights of innocent Tamilians it is of prime importance,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi’s father and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the LTTE during an election rally in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in May 1991.
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