Weeks ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections, a new political formation — Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) — was formally launched on Wednesday to highlight issues and problems of Indian Tamils, who, according to leaders of the Alliance, accounted for 1.6 million.
The TPA comprises Democratic People’s Front (DPF) of Mano Ganesan; Up Country People’s Front of V. S. Radhakrishnan and the National Union of Workers (NUW) of Palany Thigambaram.
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According to the 2012 Census [as hosted in the website of the Department of Cenus and Statistics of Sri Lanka], the strength of the Indian Tamils, also known as Upcountry Tamils, was around 8.4 lakh, about 4.12 per cent of the total population of the country.
The three leaders asserted that the Alliance was formed not meant for the polls but out of the realisation that a “unified and cohesive force” would ensure the accomplishment of more concessions and rights for the Indian Tamils.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said the launch of the Alliance was a natural corollary to the collaboration among the three parties for the last three-four months. To a query whether the TPA would work together with the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which represents Tamils of the Northern and Eastern provinces, Mr Ganesan said the question should be posed to R. Sampanthan, the leader of the TNA.