Tamil Nadu

‘Persuade Lanka to provide equal rights to Tamils’

COIMBATORE: India must persuade Sri Lanka to announce soon equal rights for Tamils on its soil, even as it carries out military action against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Bharatiya Janata Party State president L. Ganesan told presspersons here on Wednesday.

“We cannot accept Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s stand that the rights issue will be dealt with only on completion of the military offensive against the LTTE. We cannot trust the present Sri Lankan Government. It is not doing anything to win over the Tamils. But, a situation is being created where they are forced to look towards the LTTE for a solution,” Mr. Ganesan said.

“Only the Sri Lankan Government is providing room for the LTTE’s growth. If equal rights are provided to the Tamils, the need for the LTTE will not arise,” he explained.

Therefore, the Indian Government should persuade the Sri Lankan Government to announce equal rights soon and also monitor whether they are provided. There were various sections in Sri Lanka that desired India’s intervention.

The BJP leader also deplored the attacks on Indian fishermen. He said fishermen of India and Sri Lanka had crossed into each other’s territory for fishing. Indian fishermen had stuck to fishing and not indulged in any anti-national activity.

Mr. Ganesan also said that relief supplies could not go on for a long time. It would be better to allow the Tamils to stay in India and return when the action against the LTTE was over.

On whether the BJP Government in Karnataka would acknowledge Tamil Nadu’s need for Cauvery waters, especially for the samba crop in the Delta region, Mr. Ganesan said that so far, irrespective of whichever party was in power, surplus water was released only when Karnataka could not store it.

This was an issue to be discussed by the two governments and not at the party level, he said to a question what initiative the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP would take on the Cauvery issue.

“Apart from demanding the due share of Cauvery water, proper storage measures should also be taken in Tamil Nadu to prevent wastage,” he said.

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