Karunandhi has failed on Lanka: BJP

(December 29, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The DMK, an alliance partner of the UPA, has miserably failed to tackle the ethnic problem in the island nation, all because of the cold-shouldered attitude of the Union Government, said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday.

Addressing the media after the state executive meet of the party in the city, the BJP leader wondered, “What action has been taken by the UPA Government at the Centre and the DMK Government in the state to end the ethnic war and bring a ceasefire in the island nation.’’ “India has failed to address the human rights violations in the neighbouring Sri Lanka though the 60th anniversary of the human rights declaration by the United Nations is being celebrated today,’’ he said.

“After an unsuccessful allparty delegation to New Delhi on the Lankan Tamils’ issue, DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi is begging with the UPA Government led by Manmohan Singh to send India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Lanka towards finding a solution to the ethnic issue. This is a clear case of hypocrisy,’’ he noted. He said the BJP, while fully supporting the cause of Lankan Tamils, was very much worried about the refugee problem that needed to be tackled keeping in mind the burden it had cast on the country’s economy.

The BJP leader said, ``We are trying to expand our base in the southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu after the success of the party in Karnataka.’’ On the alliance of the Left parties in the State with the AIADMK led by J Jayalalithaa, he said the two partners had come together despite several ideological differences between them, mainly on the Sethusamudram issue. ``People will come to understand what sort of an alliance it is,’’ he added. He wanted to know why the UPA Government had not withdrawn the Indian High Commissioner posted there after the recent buildup between the two countries. “When the PM could not handle Antulay for his recent remarks against. - Sri Lanka Guardian