COLOMBO, Nov 27: Tamil Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has praised the support extended by the people of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu for the Tamil struggle in Sri Lanka, declared that the Sri Lankan Tamils were friends of India, and has urged the Indian government to lift its ban on his organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In his annual Great Hero’s Day address on Thursday, Mr Prabhakaran made it clear that the Tamils of Sri Lanka had completely lost faith in the ability of Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese community and the Sinhalese-dominated state, to meet the most basic demands of the Tamil minority, and that full independence was the only way out for the latter.

He claimed that unlike successive Sinhalese-dominated governments of Sri Lanka, the Tamils and the LTTE did not want war, and were “always ready” for talks to resolve the issue amicably.

“Our freedom movement, as well as our people, have always wished to maintain cordiality with the international community as well as neighbouring India. With this view, we wish to create a viable environment and enhance friendship. We wish to express our goodwill and are looking forward to the opportunity to build a constructive relationship,” the Tiger leader said. “Cordially, I invite those countries that have banned us, to understand our deep aspirations and friendly overtures of our people, and remove their ban on us and recognise our just struggle,” he added.

In a special reference to Tamil Nadu and India, Mr Prabhakaran said: “Today, there are great changes taking place in India. The dormant voices in support of our struggle are re-emerging aloud again. There are also indications of your struggle becoming accepted there.”

He said: “Notwithstanding the dividing sea, Tamil Nadu, with its perfect understanding of our plight, has taken heart to rise on behalf on our people at this hour of need.”

The “Tamil Eelam nation” did not want war, he affirmed. “It does not favour violence. It is the Sinhala nation that waged the war on our nation which had earlier adopted the path of ahimsa and asked for justice through peaceful means,” he said.

Mr Prabhakaran described the current military operations of the Sri Lankan forces as a “major war of genocide” and said that the Sri Lankan government was preventing the real news about it from reaching the outside world. It was using anti-Tamil armed groups to run a “tyrannical military rule” in areas it had taken.

The LTTE leader said the Tamils would not take offers of settlement which would be made only after their military subjugation.

“Does the Sinhala nation want to offer a solution only after the Tamils are suppressed and killed? Does it want to wipe out the true representatives of the Tamils and their bargaining power before offering a solution?” he asked.