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Monday, Feb 09, 2009
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Sri Lanka told of India’s concern, says Pranab

Anita Joshua

“It is necessary to differentiate between LTTE and civilians”

It was at India’s request that Sri Lanka agreed to a near ceasefire
Perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks must be brought to justice

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday urged “friends” in Tamil Nadu to draw a distinction between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and the Tamil civilians of the island nation. The Minister was elaborating on the government’s policy vis-À-vis the Sri Lankan Tamil issue at the one-day national convention of Block Congress Committee (BCC) and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents here.

Donning the mantle of a teacher on the government’s policies in general and foreign policy initiatives in particular to prepare the party cadre for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Mukherjee said it was at India’s request that Sri Lanka agreed to a near ceasefire for 48 hours to facilitate safe passage for Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE.

Referring to the concern expressed by “friends” from Tamil Nadu about the plight of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, the Minister said India had informed the Sri Lankan government about its concern while asserting that it had no sympathy for the LTTE. Not only was the LTTE a banned organisation in India, the country had also been consistently seeking the extradition of its head V. Prabhakaran.

As for Pakistan, Mr. Mukherjee said it would have to fulfill all its commitments vis-À-vis terror. Stating that “all our options are open,” he said the perpetrators of the terror attack must be brought to justice. “Nobody should think this country is helpless.”

Most potent threat

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram was the only other Minister to make an intervention on a day reserved for the DCC and BCC presidents. He dwelt on internal security — insurgency in the north-east, naxalism and terrorism, which he identified as the most potent threat. While on the subject, he reflected on not just jihadi terrorism but also Hindutva militancy and asserted that the country’s security was safest in Congress hands.

Eager as the party leadership is to educate its workers to counter propaganda by political opponents, Congress president Sonia Gandhi did her bit in her inaugural address. First she listed the key achievements of the United Progressive Alliance government and then went on to explain why certain difficult choices had to be made.

Knowing full well that the 9 per cent growth claimed by the Congress would come under attack on the premise that it was benefiting only a few, Ms. Gandhi sought to explain why it was crucial to maintain a high level of economic growth. “This makes it possible for the government to earn more revenues for its welfare programmes, investments and subsidy expenditures,” she said.

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