Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha has criticised the Indian government for allowing two Sri Lankan officers to receive training in the southern state’s Nilgiris district, while Karunanidhi has dropped the demand for an independent Tamil Eelam from a conference, after pressure from the home minister.
In a strongly worded letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Jayalalitha said the people of Tamil Nadu “are frustrated and outraged” by the “callous and adamant attitude” of India in giving training to Sri lankan armed forces personnel.
She pointed out that although she requested Delhi to send back nine Sri Lankan air force personnel earlier last week, the government only moved them out of Tamil Nadu into neighbouring Karnataka.
Jayalalitha also expressed frustration over the inaction of the central government on a resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, calling upon Delhi to pursue war crimes allegations against Sri Lanka at the UN and to take steps to impose economic sanctions against Sri Lanka.
“Imparting training to personnel belonging to the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in Defence Training Institutions in India and allowing them to visit Tamil Nadu reveals the utter disrespect shown to the sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu.
"Tamils across the world feel that the sentiments of the Tamils have been trampled on by the Government of India, not only with its inaction on this resolution, but also by continuing to give preferential treatment by way of providing technical training to defence personnel belonging to Sri Lanka.”
Opposition leader M Karunanidhi also criticised the central government for allowing further training, saying it was ‘”unacceptable”, however adding that the government was "acting" on the issue, as it had moved the SLAF personnel out of Tamil Nadu.
Karunanidhi also said to reporters on Monday that the demand for an independent Tamil Eelam will not feature in the upcoming Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO) conference, even though he said the aim of the conference was to discuss how to achieve his “long and unfulfilled dream” of Tamil Eelam, when announcing the conference a month ago.
A day after meeting home minister Chidambaram, the DMK chief denied reports he was pressured into dropping Tamil Eelam from the agenda.
Sources from the DMK told the Times of India that the minister had requested Karunanidhi not to bring up Tamil Elam during the conference.
"It's different to have an opinion on a separate Eelam, but we don't intend to put it up as a topic for discussion in the conference and create any confusion.
"It is only democratic that we consult with other leaders on what they feel about a separate Eelam. We don't intend to have any protests demanding it. As of now, the priority is to ensure safety and a good living to the Sri Lankan Tamils."
