'India must not take a stance in favour of Sri Lanka at UNHRC' says DMK President

by Aditya
Mar 7, 2021

 

M.K. Stalin, Tamil Nadu Opposition Leader and President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), said “India must not take a stance in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in favour of the Sri Lankan government" in a recent statement. 

Calling on the central government to “take all actions” to ensure Sri Lanka is referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its war crimes against Eelam Tamils, he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the issue under his direct supervision.

The statement called on India to vote for Sri Lanka’s referral to the ICC and to “respect the sentiment” of Ambihai K Selvakumar, a British Tamil activist who is currently engaged in a hunger strike protest urging the UK government to refer Sri Lanka to the ICC. 

“India must support the demands of the Eelam Tamil political parties and vote in a way that promotes the interests of the Eelam Tamil people,” the statement read. 

Stalin stressed that he had already written a letter to the Prime Minister last January regarding the matter which all DMK parliamentarians signed. 

As Tamil Nadu prepares for assembly elections scheduled to take place on April 6, political parties in the state are gearing up to face the polls. In the last week of February, Anbumani Ramadoss, leader of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), released a statement calling on the UNHRC to pass a “strong resolution” to protect justice and human rights in Sri Lanka. 

Senthamizhan Seeman, leader of the Tamil nationalist Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), also called on the Indian government to support the passing of a resolution in favour of Tamils and use its seat in the UN Security Council to spearhead a campaign to refer Sri Lanka to ICC.  

 

 

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