Even as several Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha sought an all-party meeting to discuss India’s stand on the resolution on Sri Lanka, UPA ally DMK on Monday accused the government of being “lukewarm” and the AIADMK charged the government with being “silent and evasive” on the issue.
The two parties, as also the CPI, urged the government to strengthen the resolution and seek an independent, international investigation into the allegations against Sri Lanka.
DMK member T. Siva said the “lukewarm” response of the government to the opinion of the people in Tamil Nadu and the plight of the Tamils was not a healthy sign. “I urge the government not only to support the resolution but bring in adequate amendments to make it stronger.”
Asking the government to insist on creation of a credible, international commission of inquiry in a time-bound manner to go into the war crimes against ethnic Tamils, Mr. Siva said his party chief had already written to the government on this.
Raising the issue during zero hour, the AIADMK’s V. Maitreyan slammed the comments of India’s permanent representative at the U.N. (in which India welcomed the progress in rehabilitation of internally displaced people in Sri Lanka) as “a betrayal and stabbing of Tamils in the back” by the UPA.
Referring to a letter written by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, he said his party wanted India to move independent amendments to the (U.S.-sponsored) resolution to make it strong, insist on an independent international investigation and punishment to those involved in “genocide.”
Referring to the talks between DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and Congress Ministers as a “deal between UPA Delhi and UPA Chennai,” Mr. Maitreyan said any such thing would not be acceptable as the issue did not concern only these two.
D. Raja of the CPI also said it was not an issue among the UPA allies. “It is an issue before the nation and the government will have to take the nation into confidence and make its position clear as to what it is going to do in Geneva [at the U.N. Human Rights Council meeting].”
As several Opposition members associated themselves with the issue, M. Venkaiah Nadu (BJP) urged the government to consult important political parties, including the Opposition, before taking a final view with regard to the resolution in the U.N. (which is expected to come up for voting in the U.N. Human Rights Council later this week).
He said it was not an internal matter of the UPA and that was why all political parties should be taken into confidence before finalising the government’s stand on the issue.
