The Centre has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as an unlawful association by two years. The notification to this effect was issued on Wednesday, according to a Home Ministry release here.

The LTTE, an association based in Sri Lanka, has sympathisers, supporters and agents on Indian soil. The group's objective for a separate homeland for all Tamils threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, the notification said.

It said the LTTE continues to be an "extremely potent, most lethal and well organised terrorist force in Sri Lanka and has strong connections in Tamil Nadu and certain other pockets of southern India."

The LTTE also continues to use Tamil Nadu as the base for carrying out smuggling of essential items like petrol and diesel besides drugs to Sri Lanka.

The notification said the LTTE will continue to remain a "strong terrorist movement and stimulate the secessionist sentiment to enhance the support base of the LTTE in Tamil Nadu as long as Sri Lanka continues to remain in a state of ethnic strife, torn by the demand for Tamil Eelam which finds strong echo in Tamil Nadu due to the linguistic, cultural, ethnic and historical affinity between the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka."

The LTTE, led by V. Prabhakaran, has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several countries including the U.S. It was also involved in the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in May 1991.

Courtesy : The Hindu