<b>TNA tells Tamil Nadu: Please Help Us</b>

From Guna Kajananth in Trincomalee: Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan, today appealed to Tamil Nadu government and the people, to help Sri Lanka resolve the ethnic conflict.

“It’s the duty of the people and the government of Tamil Nadu to help us to make use this rare opportunity to end the suffering of their Tamil brothers and sisters here. We appeal to them to stand by us forgetting whatever faults we have committed in the past,” Sampanthan said addressing the meeting held at the end of the fast it had organized.

TNA call for the fast and prayer evoked emotional response from all sections of the Tamil people of Trincomalee and Mutur. They assembled in the temples and churches, young and old, men, women and children and students. School children took part in the fast in large numbers.

“It’s our future that is at stake,” said Thirumathy Selvarajah, a year 5 student, She was from a refugee camp and had lost her father when she was a toddler, “We have suffered enough. We joined the prayer, so that the peace that we had enjoyed for the past five months would endure."

She was ignorant about Tamil Nadu leaders and their politics. She had only heard the name "Vaiko," in the last few days. It is now a name on the lips of every Tamil in Sri Lanka.

“To us," said a senior student from Trincomalee Hindu College, Kumar Arunan, “Vaiko’s arrest is a danger signal. It has strengthened the anti-peace forces in Sri Lanka.”

Tamil moderate leaders, who relied very much on India, feel let down. Said Sampanthan, one of the three leaders who negotiated with successive Sri Lankan governments on the behest of Indian leaders, especially Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, “This is not the time for Jayalalitha to take this type of action.”

Earlier,Jayalalitha had expressed her support to the Sri Lankan Tamil cause whenever Amirthalingam, Sivasithamparam and Sampanthan met her.

Sri Lankan Tamils are hurt and angry at the arrest of Vaiko, who was consistent in his support form the Sri Lankan Tamil struggle.

Demonstrations calling for his release were held in Batticoloa and Mannar last week. More are to be held in Vavuniya and Jaffna this week.