LTTE ban should continue, India tells UK

India has told the UK that the ban on the LTTE or Liberation Tigers from Tamil Eelam should continue. New Delhi “shared information” on why the ban should remain with the group which was responsible for the 30-year insurgency in Sri Lanka, but also for the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, according to Indian media reports.

The development comes after the UK’s Outlawed Organizations Appeal Board (POAC) in October removed the group’s terrorist label.

Earlier on Tuesday, in response to a question from WION, Acting British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson on whether India raised the issue said: “I cannot comment on individual conversations that we had. But we had a detailed discussion on a range of issues, especially around this type of issue with the Indian government in a different format”.

The POAC’s decision comes after an appeal was filed in May 2019 by an LTTE front organization that challenged the UK Secretary of State for Home Affairs’ decision. The decision rejected the request to remove the LTTE from the list of organizations banned under the UK Terrorism Act 2000.

Sri Lanka had protested against this development and appealed the POAC ruling on the delisting of the LTTE as a terrorist organization.

In a statement, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said: “The government of Sri Lanka has sufficient evidence to prove that the remnants of the LTTE and groups aligned with its terrorist ideology are active in foreign countries, working to incite to violence and destabilize the country “.

Explaining that “Sri Lanka remains vigilant in the face of threats to its national security as well as that of the region, and will always support members of the international community in the global fight against terrorism.”

The UK listed the LTTE as a terrorist group in 2000. The UK Home Secretary will make the final decision on its listing.