The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday called upon the Centre to enter into a fresh agreement with Sri Lanka for “re-establishing the rights of Tamil Nadu” on Katchatheevu.
The rights, which were part of an earlier agreement but given up later, should be revived through a fresh agreement.
A resolution to this effect was adopted at the general council meeting of the party here. It also referred to the discussions between Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister has been assured by Mr. Krishna and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who went to Sri Lanka earlier this week, that unfortunate incidents of attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen will not recur and the Sri Lankan government has agreed to the formation of a joint mechanism group.
The DMK came down heavily on certain sections of the media which, according to it, carried baseless reports on the party president's family, the party and front-ranking leaders.
It also criticised Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari for his observations on the DMK and State government.
The party adopted 21 resolutions. The general council meeting lasted nearly three hours.
Addressing the council, Mr. Karunanidhi called upon party members to work with a sense of unity so that the party emerged victorious in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
He described his recent visit to New Delhi as successful and referred to his discussion with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on electoral tie-up. Only the work of the party members in the forthcoming Assembly elections would eventually decide whether his trip was a success or a failure.
Earlier, Mr. Karunanidhi, accompanied by senior leaders, including K. Anbazhagan, M.K. Stalin, T. R. Baalu, Arcot N. Veeraswami and Durai Murugan, visited the Anna Samadhi to pay floral tributes to party founder and former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai on his 42nd death anniversary.
