CHENNAI: As the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils rocked the Assembly for the second day on Monday, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, without naming any organisation, cautioned against resorting to one-upmanship in going to their rescue.

He was responding to the deputy whip of the Congress Legislature Party C. Gnanasekaran. At a time when "we are fighting against the Sinhala chauvinists and Sinhala hegemony" and for protecting the Sri Lanka Tamils, there could be a competition in defending them. But it was unfair to push aside a person who rushed to their rescue, Mr.Karunanidhi said.

Recalling his avowed position that there should be no fratricidal war among the Tamil groups in the island and detailing the various steps taken to foster unity among them, Mr. Karunanidhi said, "If we clash among ourselves (on the Sri Lanka Tamils issue), we will lose our moral ground to ask them not to indulge in internecine strife."

Referring to the remarks of the leader of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) legislature party M. Kannappan on the party general secretary Vaiko's visit to Sri Lanka in 1989, the Chief Minister said, "there may have been slip up on dates [of Mr.Vaiko's visit] but there is no slip up on facts."

Pained at criticism

Mr. Karunanidhi said that he was pained only at the criticism made by the MDMK leader after he had mentioned about the "secret trip" in the House.

Reading out excerpts from Mr. Vaiko's statement to the press on Sunday, he said the MDMK leader had claimed that he undertook the "risky trip" to the jungles of Vavuniya to get firsthand information about the sufferings of the Tamils, "as he was shocked" by the shift in Mr. Karunanidhi's stance on the ceasefire in Sri Lanka in the wake of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's victory in the 1989 Assembly poll. But Mr. Vaiko in his letter dated February 5, 1989 that was handed over to him on February 24, had stated that Tamils all over the world anticipated emergence of a solution to the Lanka Tamils' issue in the wake of Mr. Karunanidhi's victory.

After his return to Tamil Nadu, Mr.Vaiko had told the press that he had apologised to him for undertaking the visit, Mr. Karunanidhi said.

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