Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday said it was with dismay that she noted reports about the invitation sent to Sri lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa by Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi for his swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Monday.
In a statement released at Chennai, Jayalalithaa said it would have been better if the ‘ill advised move’ had been avoided taking into account the relation between the new Central Government and the Tamil Nadu Government.
Jayalalithaa said though a new Government has been formed at the Centre, it has not altered the strained relations between her Government and the Government led by Rajapaksa. “The entire country and indeed the entire world is aware of the various Resolutions passed in the Tamil Nadu legislative Assembly during the last three years, with regard to the war crimes, ethnic pogrom and genocide perpetrated against the lankan Tamil by the Sri lankan Army during the final stages of the civil war. We had demanded an economic embargo on Sri lanka and urged that India should take the lead in bringing a Resolution in the UN for those accused of war crimes to be brought before the International Court of Justice. But, the previous Government chose to ignore the Resolutions thereby trampled the sentiments of the Tamils,” she said.
Jayalalithaa said she had hoped that the new Government to be formed at the Centre would be sympathetic to the cause of Tamils and friendly to the State of Tamil Nadu. “However, even before the new Prime Minister and the new Government assume office and begin functioning, this unfortunate move of inviting the Sri lankan President to attend the Swearing-in Ceremony of the new Prime Minister of India has deeply upset the people of Tamil Nadu and wounded their sentiments all over again. This is tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the already deeply injured Tamil psyche,” said Jayallityhaa.
But there was no word whether Jayalalithaa would participate in the swearing in ceremony. The DMK too has come down heavily on the move to invite Rajapaksa.