Jayalalithaa should be rallying point for SL Tamils: CPI

CPI State secretary D Pandian on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa that she should call upon democratic forces and alliance parties to come together as a movement to alleviate the sufferings of the Lankan Tamils and to bring their problems to the attention of the Central government.

Talking to mediapersons after holding discussions with the Chief Minister at the Secretariat, Pandian said responding to his appeal, the CM had expressed similar views and asserted that the AIADMK would take steps for forming a movement for Lankan Tamils.

Stating that all actions and policies of the Central government had been against the people of Tamil Nadu, Pandian said despite many assurances, the killing and attacking of Tamil Nadu fishermen by Lankan Navy continues unabated.  On the other hand, the Central government has been arguing in favour of the Lankan government.  Given these facts, there is a need for a movement to safeguard the Tamils, he added.

On the reports that Lankan Tamil refugees were fleeing the camps in Lanka, the CPI leader said for the consecutive third generation, the refugees could not get citizenship and hence they were fleeing the camps and this development also throws light on the situation in the camps.

Captain’s take

Observing that continued efforts by successive governments in Tamil Nadu have failed to resolve the issues faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen at the hands of Lankan Navy, DMDK founder Vijayakanth on Tuesday suggested that leaders of all parties unite together cutting across party lines and meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to find a solution to this issue.  Vijayakanth also accused the Central government of not  taking any steps to address the concerns of fishermen and retrieval of Katchatheevu, which was ceded to Sri Lanka  in 1974 resulting in the present problems faced by Tamil Nadu fishermen.

Criticising the Centre for turning a blind eye to the problems of the Tamil Nadu fishermen, Vijaykanth gave a detailed account on the agitations staged to bring it to the notice of the Central government.

He described as ‘shameful’ the Sri Lankan government’s decision to hand over the Rs 100 crore worth of land, meant for India, to China.

“This is the worst defeat to India’s foreign policy inflicted by a tiny country like Sri Lanka,” the DMDK founder charged.