By IANS,
New Delhi/Chennai: The DMK Monday criticised the central government for keeping the Tamil Nadu government in the dark when slain Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran’s mother was deported Saturday.
“Why was the state government kept in the dark on this issue?” T.R. Baalu asked during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha.
Baalu, however, referred to Prabhakaran’s ailing mother, Parvathi Ammal, as “that particular lady”. He pointed out that she did not have any criminal background.
Urging the central government to clarify, Baalu, a former cabinet minister, said: “Why did the Indian high commission in Kuala Lumpur issue a visa to her?”
Parvathi, 79, suffering from paralysis, arrived in Chennai with an aide from the Malaysian capital Saturday night to secure medical attention in a city hospital.
Indian immigration officials refused her permission to alight from the aircraft and sent her back to Malaysia on the same plane because she was considered a law and order problem.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani supported Baalu and said it was not a good convention that the state government was not kept in the loop.
In Chennai, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said the state government was ready to help the Ammal get medical treatment in the state if she desired it.
Karunanidhi told the assembly that he learnt from news reports that Prabhakaran’s mother was now getting medical treatment in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
“If she declares that she would like to get medical attention in Tamil Nadu, then the state government would consider the request and accordingly write to the centre,” he said.
Prabhakaran’s parents lived in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy town for many years. They moved back to Sri Lanka in 2003 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) led by Prabhakaran controlled large areas in Sri Lanka’s northeast.
After Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan military in May 2009, his parents were taken into custody. Subsequently, Prabhakaran’s father died and his wife moved to Malaysia.
According to Karunanidhi, the central government imposed a ban on Parvathi’s entry, based on the letter written by the AIADMK government in 2003.