Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa step up pressure on Sri Lanka issue

Leaders from Tamil Nadu continued to pressure the Union government to vote against Sri Lanka when a U.S.-sponsored resolution on the island nation's alleged war crimes came up before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Even as the DMK, a UPA constituent, issued a veiled threat to the United Progressive Alliance regime, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa expressed disappointment with the stand of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying he had given no firm commitment in his reply to her earlier letters on voting for the resolution. The DMK warned the Centre that if India failed to support the resolution against Sri Lanka in the ongoing session in Geneva it would be deemed a “betrayal” of the Tamils. “India should support the resolution. Otherwise, the DMK would consider it as a betrayal of Tamils,” DMK president M. Karunanidhi told journalists here before leaving for the by-election campaign in Sankarankoil. Mr. Karunanidhi said the Centre could not give a proper answer in Parliament to posers from DMK MPs Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi on why it intervened in Bangladesh if it was following a policy of keeping away from other countries' affairs. Asked whether the DMK would withdraw its support to the Central government if India failed to support the resolution, he said he alone could not take a decision on the issue. “The party's executive committee will discuss and take a decision,” he said. Ms. Jayalalithaa told reporters before leaving for the by-election campaign that the reply did not have a firm commitment by the Union government. Recalling that she had written two letters to the Prime Minister, she said she would continue to press the Centre to back the move on the draft resolution. Later, in a campaign speech, she faulted the Centre for not responding to the Assembly's resolution calling upon the Union government to take steps for declaring as war criminals those involved in the killing of Sri Lankan Tamils and imposition of economic sanctions on Sri Lanka. On the contrary, there were reports that India was going to oppose the resolution. Keywords: Sri Lanka war crimes, human rights violation, civilian killiing, UNHRC report, Eelam War, LTTE, Prabakaran killing, ethnic conflict, Sri Lankan Tamils