DMK president M. Karunanidhi on Friday said Narendra Modi’s invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his swearing-in was “not acceptable and unwelcome” by Tamils all over the world and urged the BJP leader to drop the initiative.
“The Centre should deeply ponder over whether a person who had killed lakhs of Tamils, indulged in ethnic cleansing and someone who had waged a war against his own people should participate in the swearing-in of Narendra Modi and request them to drop the initiative,” he said in a statement in Chennai.
Political parties in Tamil Nadu, including DMK and AIADMK have charged that the maximum number of civilian casualties of Tamils occurred in the last leg of war between the Sri Lankan Army and rebel LTTE, with Mr. Rajapaksa at the helm of affairs.
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Mr. Karunanidhi, whose DMK had parted ways with ally Congress last year over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, said the latter did not heed repeated pleas of people of Tamil Nadu, besides international Tamil groups, against treating Sri Lanka as a friendly nation.
“Everyone is aware” of the results of this, he said in an apparent reference to Congress’ drubbing in the April 24 Lok Sabha polls where it fared very badly contesting the elections without an ally.
“I want the new BJP government to realise the truth about pro-Tamil feelings at the initial stage itself,” the DMK chief, who besides his son M.K. Stalin had greeted Mr. Modi and his party for its victory in the elections, said.
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Taking a dig at arch rival and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s statement opposing Mr. Rajapaksa’ participation in the May 26 swearing-in of Mr. Modi, he recalled that she had earlier demanded extradition of slain LTTE chief V. Prabakaran and had even passed a resolution in the State Assembly, and called it as an ‘anti-Tamil’ move.