The Katchatheevu islet issue between India and Sri Lanka has reached a flash point by Monday. As the DMK and the Congress lambasted the Narendra Modi Government for doing nothing to retrieve the islet from Sri Lanka which was seceded to the island nation in 1975 by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jayashankar told a media briefing that the then DMK Government led by M Karunanidhi was briefed about the transfer deal by the Government of India during all stages of the transfer.

The issue of Katchatheevu has come haunting Tamil Nadu politics as the DMK has mentioned in its Lok Sabha election manifesto that the Central Government should retrieve the islet from Sri Lanka. The manifesto also blamed the Modi Government for its failure to retrieve the islet despite it ruling the country since 2014.

But the events of the last few days show that the DMK and its president M K Stalin has bitten more than they could chew. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his campaign speeches at Meerut and Rajasthan has given a vivid account of what transpired in the Katchatheevu issue.

But the DMK and the Congress got a jolt as the speech made by the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 2016 went viral by Monday.

Intervening in the Katchatheevu issue which was broached by the DMK in the House, Jayalalithaa thundered in the Assembly that the DMK has no moral right to utter the word Katchatheevu.

“The transfer of the Katchatheevu took place in 1975 and it happened as per the diktat of the Congress Party and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Though Karunanidhi was aware of the happenings, he did not do anything to oppose the transfer. He just kept quiet because he was afraid of Delhi. It was me who approached the Supreme Court in 2008 challenging the legality and validity of the transfer of Katchatheevu,” declared Jayalalithaa as the entire Opposition benches sat flabbergasted.

She went one step further and said Karunanidhi who was the Chief Minister in 2008 was reluctant to file the counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court in response to the notice issued by the apex court with regard to her notice. “I was told by officials that Karunanidhi asked them to wait till the Centre filed an affidavit and then files an affidavit kowtowing the Centre’s line. Karunanidhi or DMK were not interested in retrieving the islet from Sri Lanka,” said Jayalalithaa.

When a DMK member rose with a point of order, Amma, warned him that if the DMK spoke too much about Katchatheevu, she would be forced to make some more disclosures.

G C Shekhar, veteran journalist and chronicler of Tamil Nadu politics, told The Pioneer that the transfer of Katchatheevu was done surreptitiously by the Centre. “The only option available now is to make Sri Lanka allow the Tamil Nadu fishermen to dry their nets in Katchatheevu. The Modi Government’s decision to transfer the Bangladeshi enclaves in the eastern border is a good precedent in this regard. The 121 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 71 Bangladeshi enclaves in India were transferred in 2016 by observing all norms and statutes. But the same cannot be said about the Katchatheevu deal of 1975,” said Shekhar.