COLOMBO, Jan. 11 -- The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has requested India to facilitate the return of an estimated 150, 000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees now in India, most of who live in government-run camps in Tamil Nadu.

A TNA delegation led by R.Sampanthan had made the request when it met the visiting Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Colombo on Thursday (7).

It was the first time the TNA (or any other Sri Lankan Tamil party for that matter) had made such a request since the early 1980s. Explaining the reason for the sudden change, a top TNA source said there was now a fear that the dwindling population of the Tamils in the Northern Province will lead to the dwindling of seats for the Tamils in the Sri Lankan Parliament. The wors...