Chidambaram defends Cong Sri Lanka policy; Claims Lanka diluting the accord by doing away with 13th amendment
Chennai:
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to visit Jaffna and hold discuissions with Northern Province Chief Minister C V Vigneswaran.
This was disclosed by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram who in his 80-minute speech defended UPA government’s stance on Sri Lankan Tamils issue besides Prime Minister Manmohan Singh staying away from Commonwealth summit and stated the issue can’t be handled emotionally by calling for boycott of Sri Lanka but through tact and diplomacy.
He also said that British Prime Minister David Cameron may have won praises for talking about rights violation in Sri Lanka. “Our Prime Minister never visited Sri Lanka as there was protest so how could he have made such statement. The Ministry of External Affairs had even planned a Jaffna visit by Manmohan singh but it did not happen. And Salman Khurshid is not a head of the state who could make such a statement,” said Chidambaram.
He said that boycott is not a solution to the issue. “Sri Lanka is a democratic nation and we are its neighbour unlike Canada, which is far far away from Sri Lanka, to boycott the summit. “What would happen if Sri lankan president denies visa to our minister just like United States did to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. We can’t do anything,” Chidambaram said in a speech in Tamil.
Chidambaram while accepting that the UN resolution was weak against Sri Lanka said efforts were made to have a stronger resolution against Sri Lanka. He said the resolution has shocked Sri lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse.
He also blamed the BJP for the failure to pass a parliament resolution against Sri Lanka. “When we wanted to pass a resolution, Sushma Swaraj was against it, he alleged. Even when we called for an all party meet, BJP refused it,” he said.
“When BJP is hesitant to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka. Will they work for Tamils,” Chidambaram said.
He also said that BJP has RSS face and are not bothered about Tamils.
He also said that UPA is for a fair probe on the war crimes commited in Sri Lanka that is acceptable to the international community and the culprits should be punished.
Chidambaram, who is the architect of 1987 India-Sri Lanka agreement signed between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan president J R Jayawardene, alleged that Sri Lanka is trying to dilute the agreement by trying to do away with 13th amendment which calls for unification of North and Eastern provinces.
He also hit out at Sri Lanka over the failure to take action against those who committed mass killings after the war. “No action has been taken despite the formation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC),” he said.
Cuddalore MP K S Alagiri earlier alleged that war in the final stages could have been stopped by the UPA government had it not been for Nedumaran and Vaiko who wanted the war to prolong for seven more days while pinning the hopes on BJP victory in parliamentary elections.
He also highlighted that it was under his initiative that 50,000 houses for Tamils to be built by Indian government was included in an agreement.
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