By IANS,
New Delhi : Calling for an immediate end to the war in Sri Lanka, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani Wednesday blamed the Indian government for the “failure” in containing the crisis.
“It is sad to see that the UPA (congress-led United Progressive Alliance) government has failed to prevail upon the Sri Lankan government to end this grave humanitarian crisis… The BJP demands an immediate end to war in Sri Lanka and resumption of peaceful methods of finding an enduring solution to the ethnic issue,” Advani said in a statement.
“The BJP reiterates its stand that the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka can be resolved only on the basis of two equally important principles: safeguarding the unity of Sri Lanka and recognition of the inalienable democratic rights of Sri Lankan Tamils to live a life of dignity and equality,” he added.
The BJP said it was a failure on the part of the UPA government that a crisis was unfolding in Sri Lanka as millions of “hapless Tamilians” have had to flee from their homes in their ancestral land in the country’s northern areas following the intensification of a fierce battle between the troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
“The leadership of the Congress party and the UPA government has reduced India’s role to that of a passive spectator, even as shocking statements about the LTTE are being made by partners in the UPA government.”
“It has failed to make a clear distinction between the LTTE, which is a terrorist organisation, and the fate of Sri Lankan Tamils. It has virtually turned a blind eye when, in the name of fighting the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government has continued to ignore and suppress the legitimate concerns and democratic aspirations of Sri Lankan Tamils,” he said.
He was referring to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s comments in a media interview that LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran was a friend of his. Karunanidhi later said he was misquoted.