PT urges Tamil outfits not to confront Congress

Puthiya Tamilagam president K. Krishnasamy on Monday urged Tamil outfits not to target or confront the Congress instead should resort to agitations to draw the attention of the Centre in a bid to secure the release of the three convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Appeal

Talking to reporters, Dr. Krishnasamy said the Puthiya Tamilagam would appeal to the All India Congress Committee leader Sonia Gandhi to have the Centre withdraw its petition filed before the Supreme Court opposing the release of convicts Perarivalan, Santhan and Murugan.

With the Supreme Court having commuted the death sentence of the convicts, the Tamil Nadu government could have released the three convicts, had it followed the guidelines of the court.

Failure to comply with the guidelines had resulted in the entire issue of release “getting back to square one”, he said.

UN meeting

Dr. Krishnasamy said at the UN meeting slated for March second week, India should seek an inquiry by an Independent Commission into violation of norms relating to war and rights violations in the island nation during the fag end of the civil war.

He also said that the Prime Minister should avoid meeting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Myanmar on March 7.

He also wanted the main stream political parties to offer opportunities for the Scheduled Tribes, who are less than one per cent of the population, to contest from any of the general Lok Sabha seats and wanted the anti-defection law to be more strengthened.