The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Call up Rajapakse and tell him to stop attacks on Tamils, Raja urges PM

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Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Call up Rajapakse and tell him to stop attacks on Tamils, Raja urges PM

Special Correspondent

D. Raja

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee should call up Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and tell him to stop the attacks on Tamils, CPI national secretary D. Raja said on Tuesday.

“The Prime Minister speaks to U.S. president George Bush very often to discuss the nuclear deal. What prevents him from talking to the President of the neighbouring country?” he asked, adding that official-level talks were not adequate to put an end to the war.

“There should be a political discussion between the two governments. India needs to change its position on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue since a government is waging a war against its own citizens,” he told reporters.

Mr. Raja said the DMK and the PMK, partners in the Congress-led UPA, should press for a discussion on the issue in the Union Cabinet and Parliament.

Taking exception to Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama’s averment that Kachatheevu was a settled matter, he said reviewing the agreement would secure the rights of Tamil fishermen.

CPI State secretary D. Pandian, who was present at the press conference, said India should get an undertaking from Sri Lanka that there would be no more attacks on fishermen from Tamil Nadu.

He asked the Indian government to send food, medicine and clothes to the Sri Lankan Tamils, who had been displaced by the war and were living in camps. “It should permit us to collect donations. The donations should be sent through international agencies like Red Cross.”

Making it clear that any proposal resolve the long-pending ethnic crisis should come from the Sri Lankan government itself, he said the Sri Lankan government would not listen to anyone even if a perfect proposal was put up for its consideration.

Welcoming Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s stand on the issue, he said the Congress should respect the views of the Mr. Karunanidhi, the senior-most leader of the UPA coordination committee.

Mr. Pandian said the ‘Re.1 per kg rice’ scheme and distribution of provisions through PDS had not helped in controlling the price of rice.

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