It was the Union government's failure to act on the Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution calling for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka that emboldened the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to criticise the resolution, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said on Thursday.
The resolution was adopted in the House on June 8.
Replying to a special mention raised by several members of the Legislative Assembly, she demanded that New Delhi express its condemnation to Mr. Rajapaksa through diplomatic channels.
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Noting that Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had remarked that the resolution “must be for her to gain political advantage,” she said, “He has attributed motives to the resolution of the House. It is highly condemnable.”
Ms. Jayalalithaa stressed that the resolution was based on the report of a three-member committee appointed by the United Nations Secretary General and was completely free of any political motive.
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“Neutral observers and supporters of the Tamil cause are of the opinion that it is the Indian government's failure to act on the State Assembly resolution that has emboldened Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa to make such remarks,” she said.
Besides calling upon the Centre take action to get all those responsible for large-scale civilian deaths during the Sri Lankan civil war declared as ‘war criminals' by the United Nations, the resolution urged India to impose economic sanctions against the country to pressure it into giving equal status and dignity to Tamils.
The Chief Minister made it clear that her government would not rest until the war-displaced Tamils were fully rehabilitated and resettled in their homes and the Tamil minority was given rights on a par with the Sinhalese. “My government will take all diplomatic efforts to procure just and fair rights for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
Ms. Jayalalithaa said though Mr. Rajapaksa remained silent when former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi enacted “farcical dramas” seeking an end to the war by holding all-party meetings and human chain protests, sending telegrams to the Prime Minister and seeking the resignation of DMK MPs, he had reacted to the resolution moved by her government. “This shows the resolution has made an impact,” she said.