India should help form Tamil Eelam: Ramadoss

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PMK leader S. Ramadoss on Tuesday demanded that India should start work on forming an independent Tamil Eelam state in Sri Lanka.

Citing the formation of Bangladesh out of East Pakistan in 1971, Ramadoss said: "India should take preliminary steps for the formation of Tamil Eelam, carving out the areas where Tamils live." He said as per a UN report, more than 40,000 Tamils have been killed in the final phase of the war between Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. Ramadoss said the UN report had exposed Sri Lanka's deliberate bombing of civilians moved to secured areas and hospitals, cutting out food supplies and sexual assaults on Tamil women.

He said Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa should be tried by the international courts. On Monday, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi told reporters that he does not differ from Ramadoss' view that Rajapaksa be declared a war criminal. Asked about Tamil Eelam, he said: "These are all international issues. One has to take into consideration India's security and good relations."