The Paataali Makkal Katchi (PMK) would demand a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka, party founder Ramadoss said.
Addressing a meeting, organised by the Sri Lankan Tamils Protection Movement (SLTPM) in Vellore on Tuesday, 10 March, he said "PMK will voice for a separate state for Tamils in the island country."
“We have been raising our voice from the beginning of the ethnic war and various political parties and organisations have staged protest demonstrations and hunger strikes pressing the Centre to take proper steps to stop the war and save the innocent Tamils,” he said.
Ramadoss also demanded a ceasefire by the Sri Lankan government and initiation of peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The party also accused the central Indian government of finalising the foreign policy on Sri Lanka without the approval of the Cabinet.
Dr. Ramadoss said several of India’s foreign policies had not borne fruit and the present policy on Sri Lanka would go the same way.
He said members of the SLTPM met the Vice-Consul of Japan in Chennai recently and told him that the Sri Lankan government was buying arms with money given by Japan for development works and that Tamils would be forced to boycott Japanese products if it continued to aid the Sri Lankan government.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko alleged that the Sri Lankan government was waging war against Tamils with the help of arms procured from India, Pakistan, Israel, China and Russia.
P. Nedumaran, president of SLTPM, said India had not done anything so far to stop the “war against Tamils.”
Thol. Thirumavalavan, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader, said India was “presiding over” the war in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa said separately that the Sri Lankan Tamils issue would have a “definite impact” on the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, claiming all sections of the people in Tamil Nadu were greatly distressed at the killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Asked whether the Sri Lankan Tamils problem would be a poll issue, Ms. Jayalalithaa, who observed a fast in support of the Sri Lankan Tamils, on Monday, 9 March, said the election results would speak for themselves.
She said Tamil Nadu people were “agonised over the killing of their brothers, sisters and children” as reported in the media.
Jayalalithaa argued that there was a widespread perception that the Congress-led UPA government had done nothing to help the Tamils.
If the DMK government and the UPA government had any real concern for the Tamils, by now they would have rushed food and medicine.
“They could have put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to bring the genocide to a halt. But they are only indulging in empty rhetoric,” Ms. Jayalalithaa alleged. She said both the governments should be accused of criminal neglect in failing to provide relief and succour to the Sri Lankan Tamils.
Recalling the reports that the Indian government had been supplying sophisticated weapons and modern equipment to the Sri Lankan government and providing training to the Sri Lankan Armed forces, she said though it was common for a country to supply arms to another country the question being asked was against whom were all these weapons used.
“The fact remains that Sri Lankan government is using its military might and weapons against the Tamils. It may say that it is only fighting the LTTE. But the death figures clearly show that innocent Tamils are also the targets,” she said.
