The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Wednesday said that India should prevail upon the United Nations to help carve out a separate Tamil Eelam from Sinhala-dominated Sri Lanka.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, DMK leader T.R. Baalu said tyranny in the Tamil areas was continuing and Sinhalese army men were roaming around Tamil habitats in Sri Lanka and “thousands of people have been kept behind barbed wire fences.”
He said the Indo-Sri Lankan accord was not being ratified and the 13th Amendment (devolution of powers to ethnic Tamils) was not being implemented.
Referendum needed
Noting that DMK chief M. Karunanidhi had underlined the need for a referendum for a separate Tamil Eelam, Mr. Baalu said India should prevail upon the U.N. and other international fora to endorse such a state for ensuring peace and tranquillity for Tamils.
Mr. Baalu regretted that though the parliamentary delegation had returned from Sri Lanka, there had been no statement from the government.
R. Thamaraiselvan (DMK) urged the government to adopt a mechanism to ensure that rehabilitation measures initiated by it for Sri Lankan Tamils reached them and its funds were not diverted. He claimed there were reports that most of the houses constructed by India for displaced ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka were under Sinhalese occupation.
“I also urge the government to direct the Indian embassy in Sri Lanka to keep an eye on all these issues,” he said.
