MDMK general secretary Vaiko and PMK president G.K. Mani on Thursday demanded a probe into the allegations of war crimes against Sri Lankan Tamils in the last phase of the war, and trial of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the International Criminal Court.
Mr. Vaiko also demanded an enquiry into the conduct of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and other officials as an internal report of the organisation had indicted it for failing in its mandate to protect civilians during the war.
“All countries should come together on a platform and constitute a committee to probe both the war crimes. Tamils across the world and India should raise their voice for it,” Mr. Vaiko said.
Mr. Mani, who returned to Chennai after attending a meeting of the British Tamil Forum (BFT) in London, said Tamils across the globe wanted all political parties in Tamil Nadu to speak in one voice for an independent inquiry into the alleged war crimes.
Asked what the Tamils wanted the PMK to do for them, he said they wanted an all-party meeting to adopt a resolution seeking an independent probe into the war crimes.
Mr. Mani said it would be proper if the State Government convened an all-party meeting since all parties might not come forward to attend a meeting organised by individual political parties.
Asked whether he would meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in this regard, Mr. Mani said he wanted to appeal to her through the media to convene an all-party meeting and also lead a delegation to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC president Sonia Gandhi to press the demand.
He admitted that Tamil diaspora was well aware of the disunity among the parties in Tamil Nadu and wanted them to come together for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.
