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Centre ignores Thackeray, extends ban on LTTE for 2 years

The Centre today extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for two years.

Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani announced this at a press conference in Nasik, Maharashtra.

The ban on the extremist, separatist Sri Lankan organisation was to expire today.

The government's decision assumes significance in the wake of the renewed civil war in Sri Lanka and the demand of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, that the government lift the ban on the LTTE and recognise the organisation's demand for a separate Eelam.

Last week, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V Gopalasamy alias Vaiko had met Thackeray and apprised him of the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka. Both Vaiko and Thackeray are known supporters of the LTTE and its demand for a separate homeland. Thackeray said the Tamils in Sri Lanka are our kin and must be supported whole-heartedly.

Advani, who was in Nasik to attend the second day of the state BJP convention, said that as a first step towards resolving the Kashmir problem, the government had released several politicians of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference.

Similarly, he has asked his department to furnish details about the Punjab terrorists who are behind bars and the types of crimes they are involved in. "I think the time has come to review whether the Kashmir model can be implemented in Punjab," he said.

At the same time, Advani asserted that the National Democratic Alliance government is committed to fight terrorism in all forms and ensure that the minorities are secure in the country.

But he said a few people are trying to blow certain incidents out of proportion, like the attacks on Christians in Uttar Pradesh recently. He said even the National Commission for Minorities, which investigated the incidents, had reported that the events were not linked or communal in nature. The opposition's charge that the BJP is indirectly involved in the attacks is baseless, he said.

UNI

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