India Extends Ban On LTTE By Two Years [November 12 2008]

A Delhi High Court special judge-headed tribunal Monday upheld the Indian government's notification for extending the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) for another two years, media reports said. The special tribunal constituted under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, upheld the government decision saying that there is sufficient evidence against the organization to justify the extension of ban.

The notification extending the ban on the LTTE, also known as Tamil Tigers, declaring it as an unlawful association, was issued by the Union Home Ministry May 15. The Tamil Tigers is a terrorist group that has waged a violent campaign against the Sri Lankan government since the 1970s in order to create a separate state for the Tamils in the northern and eastern part of the island nation. The group has been proscribed as a terrorist organization by several countries including the United States.

Its chief, V Prabhakaran, is wanted by India for the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 and the group has been banned by India since 1992. Additional Solicitor, while appearing before the tribunal, had contended that although the Tamil Tigers was based in Sri Lanka, it had sympathizers and agents on the Indian soil -- apparently referring to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Karunanidhi and other political leaders there -- and there was urgent need to continue with the ban. Justifying the ban, the government had said in its notification that LTTE continues to be "extremely potent, most lethal and well organized" terrorist force in Sri Lanka.