Sources said the word ‘Eelam’ in Tamil was another name for Ceylon as a nation while ‘Tamil Eelam’ was a description of a Tamil state within the unitary state of Sri Lanka.
The fate of Tamil political parties that include the tag ‘Tamil Eelam’ hangs in the balance as the Elections Commissioner’s Department is to shortly take a decision on political parties that call for separation in its identity, The Nation learns from informed sources.
Sources said the word ‘Eelam’ in Tamil was another name for Ceylon as a nation while ‘Tamil Eelam’ was a description of a Tamil state within the unitary state of Sri Lanka.
At present, the only political party registered with the Elections Department carrying the tag ‘Tamil Eelam’ is the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO).
Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya recently banned Tiger and Dog images being used as party symbols at elections.
The constitution of Sri Lanka clearly defines that Sri Lanka is a unitary state comprising nine provinces under the 13th amendment with the Center empowered to dissolve any council that acts detrimental to the interest of the unitary character of the country.
When former North-East Chief Minister Varatharaja Perumal declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa dissolved the council immediately. Perumal fled to India seeking political asylum. He was also under threat from the LTTE which had opposed democratic elections at that time.
TELO spokesman M.K. Shivajilingam said that a case had been filed by a Sinhalese citizen challenging the registration of TELO and some other Tamil parties with the ‘Tamil Eelam’ tag. “This case is yet to be taken up for hearing,” he added.
Shivajilingam further explained that the TELO constitution did not refer to a separate state and only signified the importance of an autonomous regional state within unified Sri Lanka. “Come what may we are not prepared to change the party name,” he asserted.
(Nation)