We can’t condone 'dastardly' Gandhi killing: India

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday said forgiving Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers for the 1991 killing of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi would amount to endorsing their ideology of terror.

Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told NDTV in response to Tiger ideologue Anton Balasingham's comments: "The people of India cannot forget the dastardly crime that was committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE )."

Sharma said Balasingham's statement was a "confession on their part of their complicity in the assassination of our former prime minister. This has been a well-known fact for the last 15 years. LTTE leaders have been charge-sheeted and declared proclaimed offenders."

Responding to Balasingham's plea to India to show magnanimity, the minister said: "That would be tantamount to endorsing the philosophy of terror, violence and political assassination. People of India cannot forget the dastardly crime that was committed by the LTTE."

"It is easy for them to say ... India is for peace, stability and unity of Sri Lanka. We have been supportive of the peace process. We hope better sense will prevail and all issues in Sri Lanka will be resolved in a democratic manner."

Sharma also ruled out any direct role for India in Sri Lanka's peace process.

"The LTTE is a banned organisation in India and it is also a banned organisation in many countries. It is for the LTTE to renounce violence and return to the negotiating table."