The DMK’s decision to pull out of the UPA came hardly twelve hours after three senior Union Cabinet Ministers flew down to Chennai on Monday evening and had a lengthy discussion with Karunanidhi. After the 150 minutes long meeting with AK Antony, P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad, the DMK president told reporters that the Congress representatives had agreed with his demands in principle.
The mission by the Ministers was a follow up to the letters written by Karunanidhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanding India declare that genocide and war crimes had been committed and inflicted on Eelam Tamils by the Sri lankan Army and Administrators.
He also wanted the creation of a credible and independent international commission of enquiry in a time bound manner into the allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violation of international human rights law and crime of genocide against Tamils perpetrated by the Sri lankan Army.
later, Karunanidhi wanted the Indian Parliament to adopt a resolution condemning the Sri lankan Government for atrocities and genocide perpetrated on the ethnic Tamils in the island nation.
In a dramatic development which took political circles by surprise, the DMK declared on Tuesday morning that it was snapping its nine-year-old ties with the UPA Government. “We feel let down by the attitude of the UPA Government towards the Sri lankan Tamil issue and we are withdrawing support. Our Ministers will submit their resignations by Wednesday,” Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the party chief told reporters in a hurriedly convened Press meet at the DMK headquarters in Chennai on Tuesday morning.
“Continuing in this Government will be an injustice to the Sri lankan Tamils,” said Karunanidhi. The DMK has 18 members in the lok Sabha whose support is crucial to the survival of the Manmohan Singh Government. The party, which is the second largest constituent in the UPA has five Ministers in the union council of Ministers including MK Alagiri, Karunanidhi’s elder son.
The decision to withdraw support to the UPA was preceded by a meeting of the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (TESO), an outfilt launched by Karunanidhi himself. According to the DMK chief, the UPA Government diluted the US-sponsored draft resolution against Sri lanka. “They even ignored the amendments suggested by the DMK. This has created a situation that will in no way benefit the Sri lankan Tamils,” Karunanidhi said.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa described Karunanidhi’s decision to withdraw support to the UPA Government as a political drama. “Had he been serious about his support to the Tamils in Sri lanka, he should have quit the UPA Government in 2009 itself when the Sri lankan Army massacred the Tamils.