Forty-four Sri Lankan police officers who were training at a college in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were sent back following opposition from local political parties.
The state Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the state assembly last Friday the training was stopped and the Sri Lankan police officers were sent back on Thursday.
Karunanidhi thanked India’s central government for the move.
Regional parties such as PMK (Pattaali Makkal Katchi) and MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) said they were concerned that the Indian government was training Sri Lankan police at a time when the security forces and the Tamil Tigers are engaged in a fierce battle in Sri Lanka.
Karunanidhi made the announcement an hour after the principal opposition AIADMK and its allies MDMK and DPI walked out of the assembly condemning the Centre for training Sri Lankan policemen “which will assist the killing of Tamils” in the island nation.
DPI leader K Selvam, who raised the issue, said “Sri Lankan army is conducting air strikes on Tamils which had resulted in killing of innocent civilians including women and children. A full-scale war is going on there and provinding training at this juncture to Sri Lankan police in Tamil Nadu has aroused the anger of Tamils.”
Most of the protesting parties sympathise with the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka and oppose any help from New Delhi to Colombo.
They said the Tamils in India and Sri Lanka would view this as an anti-Tamil move, therefore, Delhi must stop the training programme.
MDMK leader M. Kannapan had raised the issue in the assembly, saying: “The Lankan policemen should not be in India at all as the Lankan forces were killing innocent Tamil civilians in the island nation.”
MDMK parliamentary party leader L. Ganesan met India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, last Thursday to demand that the Sri Lankan police leave India.
Despite the chief minister telling the house that the policemen had been sent back Thursday night, the DPI, MDMK and AIADMK staged a walkout.
Sri Lanka’s deputy high commissioner here, P.M. Amza, clarified that the policemen were not getting any military training in India. He said they were in India only to learn ‘administrative’ functions.
Last Wednesday, the PMK, an ally of the DMK, demanded that the training be stopped at once. Opposition parties too lent their voice to the protests.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying ‘it was shocking that the policemen were being trained at the CRPF training college in Coimbatore ... which terribly hurts Tamil sentiments.’
MDMK parliamentary party leader L. Ganesan met the prime minister Thursday to demand that the Sri Lankan police leave India.
The subject was again raised in the assembly Friday by DPI’s K. Selvam, who claimed the Sri Lankan policemen were being trained to handle and defuse bombs in Coimbatore and that they could use this against the Tamils.
The ruling DMK’s main rival, the AIADMK said the training would not have been possible without the state government’s knowledge.
Most political parties in Tamil Nadu are bitterly opposed to India signing a defence pact with Sri Lanka. In December, then Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha refused to receive Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.
The state Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the state assembly last Friday the training was stopped and the Sri Lankan police officers were sent back on Thursday.
Karunanidhi thanked India’s central government for the move.
Regional parties such as PMK (Pattaali Makkal Katchi) and MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) said they were concerned that the Indian government was training Sri Lankan police at a time when the security forces and the Tamil Tigers are engaged in a fierce battle in Sri Lanka.
Karunanidhi made the announcement an hour after the principal opposition AIADMK and its allies MDMK and DPI walked out of the assembly condemning the Centre for training Sri Lankan policemen “which will assist the killing of Tamils” in the island nation.
DPI leader K Selvam, who raised the issue, said “Sri Lankan army is conducting air strikes on Tamils which had resulted in killing of innocent civilians including women and children. A full-scale war is going on there and provinding training at this juncture to Sri Lankan police in Tamil Nadu has aroused the anger of Tamils.”
Most of the protesting parties sympathise with the Tamil cause in Sri Lanka and oppose any help from New Delhi to Colombo.
They said the Tamils in India and Sri Lanka would view this as an anti-Tamil move, therefore, Delhi must stop the training programme.
MDMK leader M. Kannapan had raised the issue in the assembly, saying: “The Lankan policemen should not be in India at all as the Lankan forces were killing innocent Tamil civilians in the island nation.”
MDMK parliamentary party leader L. Ganesan met India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, last Thursday to demand that the Sri Lankan police leave India.
Despite the chief minister telling the house that the policemen had been sent back Thursday night, the DPI, MDMK and AIADMK staged a walkout.
Sri Lanka’s deputy high commissioner here, P.M. Amza, clarified that the policemen were not getting any military training in India. He said they were in India only to learn ‘administrative’ functions.
Last Wednesday, the PMK, an ally of the DMK, demanded that the training be stopped at once. Opposition parties too lent their voice to the protests.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying ‘it was shocking that the policemen were being trained at the CRPF training college in Coimbatore ... which terribly hurts Tamil sentiments.’
MDMK parliamentary party leader L. Ganesan met the prime minister Thursday to demand that the Sri Lankan police leave India.
The subject was again raised in the assembly Friday by DPI’s K. Selvam, who claimed the Sri Lankan policemen were being trained to handle and defuse bombs in Coimbatore and that they could use this against the Tamils.
The ruling DMK’s main rival, the AIADMK said the training would not have been possible without the state government’s knowledge.
Most political parties in Tamil Nadu are bitterly opposed to India signing a defence pact with Sri Lanka. In December, then Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha refused to receive Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.
