ECP minister urges govt. to disarm TMVP – BBC

A minister in the recently established Eastern Provincial Council has urged authorities to disarm the Chief Minister’s paramilitary group.
Minister Uduman Lebbe, a member of the ruling coalition in the ECP, told BBC Sandeshaya that the Tamil Makkalai Vidutalai Puligal (TMVP), known as Pillayan group, should lay down arms.
ECP Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan also known as Pillyan is the current leader of the TMVP, which is formed by breakaway LTTE leader Karuna amman.
The TMVP is accused of gross human rights violations including abductions and child recruitment.
Chief Minister Pillayan himself admitted that TMVP cadres are involved in abductions that led to tension in Batticaloa district.
Minister in charge of Power, Irrigation, Highways, Water Supply and Housing Uduman Lebbe said it is high time that the government seize weapons kept by TMVP.
In an interview with the BBC, Chief Minister Pillayan however refused to lay down arms until the ‘LTTE is defeated’ in the east.
Minister Lebbe expressed hope that the TMVP would soon lay down arms as the paramilitary group has now entered the democratic process.
The TMVP and some Muslim parties contested the ECP polls together with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).