The Hindu : National : No reservations over Dixit's appointment: Vaiko

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 29, 2004

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National

No reservations over Dixit's appointment: Vaiko

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, MAY 28. The general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Vaiko, today made it clear that he did not have any reservations in the appointment of J.N. Dixit as the National Security Adviser.

When The Hindu asked Mr. Vaiko about a news item appearing in the vernacular press that he was upset over the appointment of Mr. Dixit, he said: "I don't have any reservations. Let us forget the past and look forward to a hopeful future so that a new dawn shall usher to solve the ethnic problems of Tamils in Sri Lanka."

He said that "in recent years the international community has taken cognisance of the ethnic problem of the Tamils of Sri Lanka and so the perceptions are taking new shape. Under these circumstances, I personally presented our party's memorandum to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, in which we have made a request that India should play an active role in the peace talks initiated by the Norwegian Government, supported by the United Nations, the European Union, Thailand, Japan and many other countries so that the Tamils could live in dignity, honour and peace."

Mr. Vaiko said: "Because of our efforts, the Common Minimum Programme has incorporated the spirit of our suggestions — speedy implementation of the Sethusamudram project; declaration of Tamil as a classical language; steps to make all the languages included in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution as the official languages of India and nationalisation of inter-State rivers and linking of the southern rivers as a priority agenda and to protect the interests of Cauvery delta farmers".

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