The DMK-backed Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) on Wednesday staged a protest in Chennai, pressing for various demands, including urging the United Nations not to allow Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to address a meeting of its General Assembly on September 25.

DMK president Karunanidhi, who led the protest, called for sustained struggle to ensure the welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamils.

“If all the Tamils cooperate and struggle, we can ensure true freedom for Eelam Tamils and give them a life of self-respect,” he said.

Karunanidhi said his opposition to Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa was in democratic and peaceful means, “unlike his violent ways.”

Claiming that the Tamils in Sri Lanka were forced to live as a ‘slave’, the DMK chief said struggles for their cause will and should continue. He expressed confidence that unity among Tamils will act as a ‘force’ in achieving the desired results in this regard.

Today’s protest by TESO focused on the issues of a political solution desired by Lankan Tamils, returning of Indian fishermen’s boats captured by Sri Lankan Navy, allowing the UN inquiry panel to have its probe against war crimes concerning Sri Lanka in India and opposing Mahinda Rajapaksa or any of his representative’s address at the UN General Assembly on September 25.

(The Hindu)