The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : DMK neither against nor in favour of LTTE, says Anbazhagan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 30, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

DMK neither against nor in favour of LTTE, says Anbazhagan

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The DMK is neither against nor in favour of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The party is only worried about the safety of Tamils in Sri Lanka, said Finance Minister and leader of the House K. Anbazhagan in the Assembly on Thursday.

Intervening during a discussion on the Governor’s address in the House, the Minister said people in the State had no two opinions on protecting Tamils in Sri Lanka and safeguarding their interests. Some political parties here were of the view that the on-going war was between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE, while the Sri Lankan government felt that the fight was against the LTTE and not against local Tamils. Moreover, one could not expect External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to share the same feeling like those in the State. The recent invitation of Mr.Rajapaksa to the Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi and All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa to Sri Lanka was only to show them that the army’s fight was only against the LTTE and not against the Tamils in the island.

Earlier V.Sivapunniyam (CPI) said the party’s concern was whether the Central government was evading its responsibility in rescuing Tamils in the island nation. He also wanted to know the DMK’s position on the issue. Whether it was supporting the Congress stand of anti-LTTE or in favour of the organisation, he asked.

K.Balabharathi (CPI-M) said her party had been insisting on a political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. If the Sri Lankan President thought that he could solve the issue through armed forces he was mistaken. The CPI-M was for equal rights for Tamils and Sinhalese in the island.

T.Velmurugan (PMK) said his party was not concerned about the death of LTTE cadres in the battlefield. The party was worried over the death of innocent Tamils and it was supporting the LTTE as it was fighting for the rights of Tamils in the island. S.Peter Alphonse (Congress) came down heavily on those who criticised his party’s stand on the issue. He said the Congress was equally concerned about the plight of Tamils in the island nation. He charged that some political parties here were trying to weaken the Central and the State governments under the pretext of supporting the Sri Lankan Tamils. H.Vasanthakumar (Congress) said the LTTE had no right to speak on behalf of Tamils as it was responsible for the killing of 62 Tamil leaders in the island nation. No one had locus standi to criticise the Congress on the issue as it was equally concerned about the safety of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu