By IANS,
Chennai : Tamil Nadu’s ire against the Sri Lankan Navy’s alleged attacks on Indian fishermen became more pronounced Saturday as both the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK hardened their stand on the issue.
While Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi opposed a proposal for joint patrolling of the Palk Straits by the Indian and Sri Lankan navies to prevent attacks on Indian fishermen, Leader of Opposition J. Jayalalitha criticised India’s contribution to Colombo’s war machine.
Karunanidhi expressed his opinion in an official letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, copies of which were released to the media.
Jayalalitha issued a statement castigating the central government for collaborating with Sri Lanka in the alleged genocide of minority Tamils in the island nation and called for immediate stoppage of all military aid to it – especially in the view of its navy allegedly carrying out attacks against Indian fishermen.
The chief minister was reacting to reported discussions between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollogama in New York during which the proposal was mooted to resolve the issue.
“While I have repeatedly stressed on the need to strengthen our security on the international maritime border line by giving adequate facilities to the Indian Coast Guard and the navy, we have also made it clear that joint patrolling was not feasible,” Karunanidhi said.
The state government had also pointed this out to National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, he added.
The Sri Lankan diplomatic mission in Chennai has denied the charges of wrongdoing by its navy and said the assaults were engineered by the LTTE.