The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : People aware of Jayalalithaa's invectives against Sonia: Vaiko

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

People aware of Jayalalithaa's invectives against Sonia: Vaiko

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 19. The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary, Vaiko, today accused the Chief Minister and All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary, Jayalalithaa, of attempting to "confuse" people by claiming that she had not launched any "personalised attack" on the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, during the May Lok Sabha election campaign.

He told reporters here that Ms. Jayalalithaa, who fought the election in the company of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was trying to sing a different tune now. But her "political gimmicks would cut no ice", as people in the State were aware of her "personal invectives" against Ms. Gandhi and they could not be hoodwinked so easily, he said.

Assembly poll

Asked if he would prefer to be in the race for the chief ministership in the 2006 Assembly poll, Mr. Vaiko said, "I am not building castles in the air." The Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president, M. Karunanidhi, continued to be strong and would prove its invincibility in the Assembly poll too.

Replying to a query, he said the Pattali Makkal Katchi, being an independent political party, had the right to aspire for becoming the ruling party in the State in 2010. "However, we will not fix any such deadline. As of now, we are part of a strong alliance. I cannot predict now what will happen after 10 years or 25 years. But I wish to make it clear that we want to strengthen the base of the MDMK by interacting with people and winning their confidence."

`No instability'

He said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government was not haunted by any instability factor. The Manmohan Singh Government would complete its full term, as perfect consensus prevailed among the constituents of the UPA and the Left parties on basic issues such as defending secularism and democracy.

On the Narendra Modi regime's move to enact the Gujarat Control of Organised Crimes (GUJCOC) Act in the wake of the Centre's decision to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), he said considering its track record, the BJP Government in the State would not bother to defend democratic rights.

Mr. Vaiko flayed the Chief of the Naval Staff, Arun Prakash, for expressing the view that the Sri Lankan Navy "does not inflict violence on our fishermen". "His remarks were disturbing and totally unwarranted." He also appealed to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to immediately look into the matter and "take appropriate steps to clarify the Indian Government's views and approach on this sensitive matter."

The MDMK leader said he had met Dr. Singh in New Delhi last evening and handed him over a letter, alleging that Admiral Prakash used "insinuating words" against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) even as the Norway-sponsored peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tigers had ended in a stalemate. He also apprised the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, of the issue.

(Admiral Prakash told the correspondents from Indian newspapers based in Colombo on September 16 that the intrusion of Indian fishermen into Sri Lankan waters was a "very vexed issue" and he was "fairly certain" that the island's Navy "does not inflict violence on our fishermen."

According to Admiral Prakash, the situation "is now muddied by the presence of the LTTE" and at this moment, "we are not sure who is creating the mischief.").

Though Admiral Prakash had given a "clean chit" to the Sri Lankan Navy, the fact remained that it had launched 900 attacks against fishermen of Tamil Nadu during the last 30 years, Mr. Vaiko said. The "irresponsible, unwarranted and reckless statement" could be used by the Sri Lankan Government to "suit its ends and also to hurt the sentiments of Tamils in the island", he felt.

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