Three DMK MPs on Wednesday denied having signed a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, requesting him not to consider granting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a visa.
Congress MP S.S. Ramasubbu and VCK MP Thol. Thirumavalavan, however, admitted that they had signed the letter brought to them by some Members of Parliament.
“I did not sign the letter. It is a clear case of forgery,” said K.P. Ramalingam of the DMK.
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“After all, it is an issue concerning two sovereign states and we do not have any say on it. Moreover, personally I am against the idea, and how could I sign the letter?” said Mr. Ramalingam, a Rajya Sabha member.
Besides Mr. Ramalingam, DMK MPs A.A. Jinnah, R. Thamaraiselvan, J.K. Ritheesh and S. Thangavelu are shown as signatories.
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan of the Congress and Abdul Rahman of the Indian Union Muslim League were also signatories.
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Mr. Thangavelu also denied having signed the letter. “These are all quite serious issues, and we cannot sign it without consulting the party leadership,” he said.
R. Thamaraiselvan said he did not remember anyone approaching him for his signature. “I did not sign any memorandum or letter. It could be a forgery.”
Mr. Thirumavalavan said, “It was a conscious decision, and I remember signing the letter along with Vellore MP Abdul Rahman. I felt that it was a genuine issue as Gujarat witnessed human rights violations.”
Mr. Ramasubbu said it was his personal decision to sign the memorandum and it had nothing to do with the party line. “Of course, Gujarat witnessed large-scale human rights violations, and as Chief Minister, Mr. Modi should take the responsibility for the killing of so many people.”