Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the Central Government was in no way “insensitive” to Lankan Tamil issues and the protest was in “sync” with the people’s concern in Tamil Nadu.
“We understand the sensitivities which are involved with regard to the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils, especially in Tamil Nadu. We are absolutely in sync with some of the concerns which have been articulated...”, Mr. Tewari told reporters on Friday.
Mr. Tewari was responding to questions on the protests by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a key UPA ally, against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s two-day pilgrimage trip in India.
DMK and other Tamil parties hold Mr. Rajapaksa instrumental for the sufferings of the ethnic Tamil minority in the island nation.
Noting that India had walked the ‘extra mile’ at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (backing a resolution against Sri Lanka), Mr. Tewari said, engagement with Colombo “in no way means that we are insensitive or we tend to undermine the concerns, which a section of the population of India, may legitimately have.”