Those on the stage were asked what had gone wrong with the union’s old leaders. LTTE member Sinniah Sihada Sundaralingam (Sundaran) launched into a verbal attack on the SEP. He denounced SEP member Thiruchelvam Chandrasekaran as a “bad element,” who was “working behind” four of the union leaders, who belong to the SEP, to confuse the union.
In another provocative statement, former union president and LTTE supporter Muththiah Velmurugan falsely accused two SEP members, Chandrasekaran and Rasendran Sudarshan, of threatening him with court action. “I want to bring to the notice of this meeting that if anything happens to me these two people are responsible,” he said.
Sundaran, together with other LTTE members, called on those present to raze the houses of the four SEP members and to push their fishing boats out to sea if they refused to hand over the union’s books.
On December 23, SEP member Nadarajah Vimaleshwaran had his fishing net stolen. On January 1, some of the fishing nets belonging to another SEP member, Muththulingam Muruhananthan, were stolen and the remainder slashed. The loss amounted to thousands of rupees. On the day of the meeting, his boat was missing. It had been pulled from its moorings at night, set adrift, and only recovered with difficulty.
In another provocative statement, former union president and LTTE supporter Muththiah Velmurugan falsely accused two SEP members, Chandrasekaran and Rasendran Sudarshan, of threatening him with court action. “I want to bring to the notice of this meeting that if anything happens to me these two people are responsible,” he said.
Sundaran, together with other LTTE members, called on those present to raze the houses of the four SEP members and to push their fishing boats out to sea if they refused to hand over the union’s books.
On December 23, SEP member Nadarajah Vimaleshwaran had his fishing net stolen. On January 1, some of the fishing nets belonging to another SEP member, Muththulingam Muruhananthan, were stolen and the remainder slashed. The loss amounted to thousands of rupees. On the day of the meeting, his boat was missing. It had been pulled from its moorings at night, set adrift, and only recovered with difficulty.