By IANS
Chennai : Angry legislators from the opposition AIADMK and the Congress party walked out of the Tamil Nadu assembly Tuesday over the ruling DMK’s “soft attitude” towards supporters of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
AIADMK leader K.A. Sengottaiyan and Congress legislator Peter Alphonse told reporters outside the house that the government was overlooking growing pro-LTTE activity in the state.
“We cannot tolerate open support for the LTTE – a terrorist organisation that killed our former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi,” Alphonse said.
Trouble began in the assembly Tuesday when the opposition repeatedly demanded a ban on the pro-LTTE outfit Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) while speaking on a call attention motion tabled on the DPI hosting a public debate in support of LTTE chief Veluppillai Prabhakaran last week.
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said his party “respected the sentiments of the Congress” and he would appoint a panel of legal experts to go into the matter.
“If an urgent need is found, the government will not hesitate to promulgate an ordinance to tackle the matter,” Karunanidhi said.
However, the chief minister pointed out that the Supreme Court had made a clear distinction between extending moral support to the Tamils’ issue in Sri Lanka and support to terrorism.
While DPI legislators denied any direct support to the LTTE, leaders of the outfit have been openly found garnering support for the terrorist group.
G.K. Mani, floor leader of the PMK, another Tamil Nadu-based political party known for its open support for the LTTE, alleged that telephones of his party leaders were being bugged the government.