Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday made public the difficulties faced by her government owing to frequent visits by Sri Lankan officials, army officers and VIPs to Tamil Nadu, without informing the State government.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the contents of which were released to the press, she referred to the visit of Thirukumaran Nadesan, brother-in-law of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, to Rameswaram on January 9 and 10 and an attempted attack on him.
“As there was no information to this government either from the Sri Lankan government or the Government of India, no precautionary security measures could be taken.” She referred to the letter from the Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Southern India addressed to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, and the letter from the External Affairs Ministry's Joint Secretary. “The tone and tenor of the letter is unwarranted, unacceptable and totally unjustified.”
Adverting to the local perception of the Sri Lankan government's conduct on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, she said it had completely failed to ensure the local Tamils' right “to live with dignity, self-respect and equal constitutional status on a par with the Sinhalese”.
Against this background, there had been instances when Sri Lankan VIPs and other dignitaries came on private visits to Tamil Nadu without informing the State government.
The State government, in its letters of September 16, 2011 and February 24, 2012, had brought to the notice of Union Ministries of External Affairs and Home regarding the difficulties faced by it owing to the frequent visits of Sri Lankan officials, army officers and VIPs without informing it.
“In view of the prevailing situation, it will be appropriate that the Government of Tamil Nadu is given prior intimation about the visits of Sri Lankan dignitaries and it will also be appreciated if the Government of India discourages such frequent visits to Tamil Nadu and allows such visits only after consulting the Government of Tamil Nadu in future,” she said.
