The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam did not agree to the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, M. Karunanidhi, president of the party, said on Tuesday.
The party had staged a walk out from Parliament on the Katchatheevu issue, he recalled in a statement.
Citing a letter said to have been written by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in September 1994 to the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, the DMK leader said that what she had written then that the ceding of Katchatheevu was done in the interest of better bilateral relations was being repeated by some Union Ministers.
Strongly opposed the move
In 1974 when the Union government had decided to give Katchatheevu away, the DMK government had strongly opposed the move. On the insistence of the DMK regime, the provisions, aimed at protecting the traditional fishing rights of the State fishermen, were included. But, during the Emergency, when the State was under President's Rule, the clauses were deleted. Since then, the party had been seeking the restoration of the provisions.
The DMK might have been defeated in the recent Assembly elections. But, this did not mean that all those who had won were genuinely interested in the welfare of the State and all those who had lost did not have concern for the State, he added.
