The case I filed seeking the removal of the ban on the Liberation Tigers came up for hearing today before the Madras High Court. I appeared in person and presented the preliminary arguments explaining why this ban is illegal. As the Union Government sought time, the case has been adjourned to February 16.
The main allegation of the Union Government is that “the Tigers are attempting to establish Tamil Eelam by annexing Tamil Nadu as well.” I categorically reject this claim. I explained with evidence that neither the Vaddukoddai Resolution nor the Leader Prabhakaran’s Maaveerar Day speeches ever contained any intention to include Tamil Nadu.
Even in the map of Tamil Eelam displayed behind Leader Prabhakaran, there was never even the slightest portion of Tamil Nadu included. Their sole objective was the liberation of the Eelam homeland. When the very foundation of the Union Government’s argument is false, the whole edifice of the ban collapses.
When questions were raised regarding armed struggle, I cited the preamble to the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN itself recognizes that when oppression and tyranny prevail in a country, rebellion against such tyranny is justified.
As the great leader Nelson Mandela stated in the Rivonia trial—when a government suppresses its people through weapons, it becomes inevitable for the people to take up arms in self-defence. What happened in Eelam was a planned genocide. Until justice for that is achieved, my legal struggle will not rest.