The presence of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) president Yasin Malik at a meeting organised by a pro-Tamil Eelam outfit, Naam Tamilar party in Cuddalore, has drawn flak from BJP and Congress in Tamil Nadu.
Central and state governments should probe how Mr. Malik came to Cuddalore and also his links with organisers of the meeting on Saturday, TNCC president B.S. Gnanadesikan said in a statement, welcoming the State government banning the public meeting.
Objecting to Mr. Malik’s presence, BJP state unit president Pon. Radhakrishnan said: “Political leaders were banned from visiting even the violence-hit areas of Dharmapuri and Marakkanam. But allowing a separatist like Malik into Tamil Nadu is dangerous and the state government should understand this.”
In a statement, he said the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and Sri Lankan Tamils were completely different as the Union Government had accorded special status for the state while ethnic minorities in the island nation were struggling and seeking India’s help to retrieve their lost rights.
The public meeting was banned by police after organisers put up banners carrying pictures of slain LTTE chief V. Prabakaran. The leaders later held a meeting indoors.
Union minister V. Narayanasamy on Sundat came out in support of Tamil Nadu government for its decision to ban the pro-Tamil Eelam public meeting, in which Malik was to participate, saying the step was right and “in the interest of law and order.”
Yasin Malik, invited by Naam Tamilar founder Seeman for the meeting, had extended his support for a separate homeland for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and said Eelam would become a reality.
Former ally of the Congress, DMK chief Karunanidhi has disapproved of the ban.
