Tamil Nadu CPI, BJP leaders slam Delhi’s inaction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 22:13 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), D Pandian charged Saturday that it was not enough to merely condemn the genocide in Sri Lanka, but instead one should be prepared to embrace a martyr's death. He was speaking about VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan’s fast-unto-death over the humanitarian crisis imposed on Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka’s war. The senior CPI leader added that if India was capable of sending the Chandrayaan to the moon, it could at least do some lip-service to save the lives of Tamils by telling to the Government of Sri Lanka that it will not hesitate to interfere."

"We are not willing to lose a self-respecting Tamil leader - if the Tamils are dying in Eelam, should we kill a Tamil leader here? We must always remember that we are not born to die, but we are born to oppose those who kill us," Pandian said.

"However, I will not ask Thirumavalavan to continue his hunger strike, nor will I ask him to stop it" he said.

Mr. Pandian lambasted India's National Security Advisor MK Narayanan for praising Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and hailing him as the greatest military leader in the world. India should reject such traitors, he said.

Lt. Gen. Fonseka recently dismissed Tamil Nadu’s leader as “political jokers” in response to their agitation over the plight of Tamil civilians being bombarded by the Sri Lankan military.

Thirumavalavan’s fast Saturday drew the presence of the Tamil Nadu leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).



The BJP, known for its rightist Hindu leanings, shared Thirumavalavan’s dias with the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra kazhagam President Hyder Ali.

About fifty senior roman catholic priests, and the Church of South India's Bishop of Madras, Dr Rt.Rev.Devasahayam blessed Thiruma and prayed for the Tamil people in Eezham.

Tamil Nadu political columnists at the event hailed the acts of solidarity with the Eezham Tamils as an example of “practical” secularism.

S. Thirunavukkarasu, a national leader of the BJP and Rajya Sabha MP, said: the BJP supports the Eelam struggle not only at the state level but also at the national level.

“This is a humanitarian tragedy that has not taken place anywhere else in the world. What's the Indian Government doing? If one Indian warship goes close to Sri Lanka, it will immediately stop all attacks on the Tamils,” he charged.

“Thirumavalavan is the true voice of the Tamil people, his life is important to us. I have belief in Kalaignar, it is possible for him to succeed if he sets his mind to it,” he said.

The BJP leader made a personal appeal to Karunanidhi: "If you decide to relinquish power now, you will lose your minority government. But the people of Tamil Nadu will reinstate you as a majority. However, if you are interested in clinging on to the minority government and allow the genocide of Tamil people to go unchecked and unstopped, there are chances that people will make you lose even this."

“All parties are united on the stand that there must be an immediate ceasefire and talks. No different opinion can exist. If the Indian Government continues this trend it would have to face serious consequences,” he warned.

BJP State leader Tamilisai pointed out that the Eelam Tamil people had no access to medicine. She lampooned the "resignation drama" staged by the parties in Tamil Nadu. “As Indians it is our duty to stop the war--every ten days once Pakistan sends a shipload of arms to Sri Lankan Government,” she pointed out, criticizing the Congress government’s demand for the extradition of LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan.

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