Displaced Tamils resettlement to begin

(October 15, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has assured the Indian MPs' delegation that 58,000 of the 2.53 lakh internally displaced Tamils in Lanka would be sent home from the camps in the next fortnight and the rest in a phased manner, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has said.

The resettlement process would begin, Karunanidhi, who received the delegation and its report at the airport on their arrival from Lanka after a five-day tour, told reporters.

The team insisted to Rajapakse and other authorities that Tamils must be sent back to original places before monsoon sets in.

Accepting the demand, Rajapakse and other officials said 58,000 persons will be sent back to their homes within next 15 days. The rest of them will be sent to their homes in a phased manner, he said.

The DMK leader said the delegation, comprising ten MPs of the DMK-led Front in Tamil Nadu, was also told that Colombo had sought India's help in demining operations in Tamil populated areas.

The Lankan officials assured the team that all efforts would be made to hand over orphaned children and disabled persons to NGOs, he said. On a mission to get a first hand account of the conditions of the Tamils displaced by the war between the Lankan army and LTTE, the delegation included MPs from DMK, Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi.Karunanidhi, quoting MPs, said the team also took up the vexed issue of frequent attacks on Indian fishermen by the Lankan Navy, to which the Lankan officials assured such a situation would not continue but requested cooperation from the Indian side.

The delegation members, who included Kanimozhi, DMK's Rajya Sabha member and daughter of Karunanidhi, and pro-LTTE Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi founder-leader Thol Thirumavalavan, had visited the camps. K S Alagiri, a delegation member, said they visited eight camps. To a query, he said they would also submit their findings to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The MPs visit drew sharp criticism from the opposition parties, including AIADMK for excluding them. Karunanidhi and AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa were involved in a war of words over the delegation visit with the latter terming it as eye-wash since the composition did not reflect an all-party character.

Karunanidhi had defended the exclusion of opposition MPs, saying it was not a government-sponsored visit and parties had borne the expenses. Other opposition parties had also criticised the visit.

Speaking to reporters here, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu today said the Prime Minister should have advised the state to include MPs of all parties. Sri Lankan Tamils issue is an issue of national concern. It is not an issue of one party or alliance partners, he said, expressing surprise over ignoring and avoiding other parties including AIADMK, BJP and the Left.

-Sri Lanka Guardian