A delegation of DMK and Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu will call on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa here on Wednesday to exhort him to take steps for early resettlement of over 80,000 Tamils displaced due to war and political resolution of the ethnic issue in that country.
The delegation headed by DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu will meet Mr. Rajapaksa, who is visiting India for the first time after his resounding victory in the January 26 elections, and discuss the issue of rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced Tamils.
“We will be meeting Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa on Wednesday to press him the need for resettling over 80,000 people who are still lodged in various camps in northern Sri Lanka,” Mr. Baalu said here.
He said the delegation will also discuss about the political solution to ethnic issue, which the Sri Lankan government has promised after the end of the 30-year-long civil war last May following the death of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.
“We will also urge the President to quickly address the Tamil question and take steps to integrate Tamils into the mainstream,” he said.
Certain Tamil groups have accused Mr. Rajapaksa of “killing the minority Tamils” during the end of the civil war.
Most of MPs who were part of the ten-member delegation that went to Sri Lanka in October 2009 will be part of Wednesday’s delegation.
Sources said that almost all DMK MPs are expected to join the delegation, while senior Congress members will also form part of the team.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had on Sunday written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to take up the Sri Lankan Tamils issue with Mr. Rajapaksa during his three-day visit.
Mr. Karunanidhi in his letter to Dr. Singh said nearly 80,000 Tamils were still living in transit camps, awaiting rehabilitation measures.
“Those families who have been rehabilitated and settled elsewhere should also be provided with economic development and justice-based reconciliation to work towards a permanent political settlement,” he said.
