By IANS,
Chennai : MDMK leader Vaiko’s warning of a “bloodbath” in Tamil Nadu over the Sri Lankan Tamil tangle has brought out fissures in the AIADMK-led Third Front with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) demanding an explanation from him.
N. Varadarajan, state secretary of the CPI-M, said Friday in a statement: “Vaiko’s reported remarks are not acceptable to us. He should clarify his statement.”
Meanwhile, Vaiko has termed the state government’s move to charge him with sedition for his remarks in support of the Tamil Tigers’ chief as “politically motivated”.
“My statement indicating a bloodbath in Tamil Nadu if Prabhakaran (leader of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is harmed does not mean sedition. I need no certificate from the M. Karunanidhi government for patriotism and these charges are politically motivated,” Vaiko told reporters.
Surrounded by supporters shouting slogans against the central, state, and the Sri Lankan governments for the killing of “innocent Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka”, Vaiko expressed scorn over the threat of arrest.
“Threats of arrests by the cowardly Karunanidhi, who is using the alibi of Tamil sentiments to continue in power and aiding the collaboration of the Indian government with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s murderous regime, do not bother me,” Vaiko added.
Meanwhile, PMK founder leader S. Ramadoss, political ally of the CPI-M and MDMK pooh-poohed Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for requesting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s intervention to solve the Sri Lankan crisis.
“I fail to understand why Karunanidhi is begging Sonia Gandhi instead of either controlling the United Progressive Alliance’s moves or switching alliances (to pull down the government),” Ramadoss said in a press statement issued Friday evening.
The PMK, a constituent of the UPA government till recently, had switched sides to the Third Front led in Tamil Nadu by AIADMK boss J. Jayalalitha.