LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                03. April 1997


PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

TAMIL NATIONAL IDENTITY ASSERT ITSELF IN MEMORIAL PARADES
        The strength of Tamil national consciousness was again made
        apparent in the mass celebrations witnessed all over Vanni
        commemorating the death of Annai Poopathy. Most recently, the
        entire districts of Mulankavil and Silavathai were decorated with
        the red and yellow of the Tamil Eelam national flag, and people
        flocked onto the streets to express their empathy for the
        "mother" of Tamil Eelam, who died in a death-fast nine years ago
        while protesting the IPKF presence in Tamil Eelam.
        
        The lesson of these mass outpourings is that Tamil national
        identity is a reality that cannot be bought off. This is why the
        government's devolution package is both inappropriate and
        insulting. The Tamil nation is a self-conscious entity aware of
        its right to self-determination, the fundamental democratic right
        of all peoples. Indeed, Sri Lanka's present terror at the
        prospect of third party mediation is rooted in the knowledge that
        the democratic national rights of Tamils would be easily
        discerned by any impartial international observer.
        
TAMIL AREAS SHORT OF TEACHERS - RHETORIC AND REALITY CONFLICT
         While the government depicts internationally an image of equal
        treatment given to Tamils and Sinhalese, a drastic shortage of
        teachers in Tamil areas has come to light. 5000 teacher vacancies
        in Tamil areas in the northeast have gone unfilled due to the
        government's deliberate withholding of funds. Meanwhile, schools
        in Sinhala areas are amply staffed, indeed sometimes
        over-staffed. This confirms - if more confirmation were needed -
        that the Sri Lankan government continues to be a Sinhala
        government committed only to the welfare of the Sinhalese.
        
        Ever since Sri Lankan 'independence', the comforts extended to
        the Sinhala-south have been secured at the expense of the Tamil
        population in the northeast. Today we see that trend is starker
        than ever. The Chandrika government (with a Sinhala-comprised
        military) has totally destroyed Tamils' cultural centre and
        reduced hundreds of thousands of Tamils to the status of
        refugees. The government's rhetoric of 'liberating' the Tamils
        contrasted with this gruelling reality ought to alert the
        diplomatic community to the racist dynamic that underlies the
        government's activities in the northeast.
        
        4-YEAR OLD KILLED IN POLICE REPRISAL ATTACK ON TAMILS
        A Tamil child four years old and a man of 45 were both killed
        after Eravur police went on a rampage firing mortars and bullets
        at surrounding Tamil villages. The attack on these innocent
        Tamils was in revenge for an earlier LTTE strike against security
        forces.

        TAMILS KILLED                           
        Pathmanathan Sanjeevan (aged 45)       
        Thambapillai Jayadevi (aged 4)
        
        TAMILS BADLY INJURED
        Sivalingam Jeyaranee (aged 35)
        P. Ranjit (aged 21)
        Kanagasooriar Thangamma (55)

INFANT FATALLY WOUNDED BY SRI LANKAN ARMY SHELLING
        A young child has been critically wounded and is in Batticaloa
        hospital after being hit in a Sri Lankan artillery attack from
        Valaichchenai harbour military camp. The shelling - as usual
        aimed at surrounding Tamil villages - lasted half an hour.
        Another civilian was also critically wounded. Doctors say neither
        victim is likely to survive. Random shelling from Sri Lankan
        military camps occurs every day in the Tamil northeast. The
        victims are ordinary Tamil residents who Sri Lanka says they are
        liberating.

	
Political Committee,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

(English translation of the LTTE statement released by
LTTE International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU,
United Kingdom. Tel:0181- 503 4294 / Fax: 0181-470 8593)