‘2,000 Tamils killed in last 15 hrs in Lanka’
Express News Service
First Published : 04 May 2009 02:42:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 04 May 2009 07:19:54 AM IST
MADURAI: Nearly 2,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the attacks, including aerial bombings, carried out by the Sri Lankan army during the last 15 hours in places like Mullaivaikkal, Otraipanaiyadi, Valaiyargund and Irattaivaikkal, alleged P Nedumaran, president, Tamil Nationalist Movement, here on Sunday.
There were bodies everywhere, he said, and added that 1.5 lakh Tamil civilians were trapped in the war zone without food or medicine. He wanted the United Nations to intervene to feed those people and see to it that their medical needs were met.
Nedumaran said: “Though Union Home Minister P Chidambaram keeps on saying that ceasefire is in place in Lanka, according to the Lankan military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the war had not ended but only heavy weapons were restrained from being used.” On India’s arms aid, he charged that Lanka had acknowledged receiving weapons and training from India, Pakistan and China and it gave them a winning edge over the LTTE. He said that Nanayakkara had lauded the efforts of India in sharing crucial information about LTTE.
According to Nedumaran, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa might be right as Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had not refuted the charge of holding secret dialogues with Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, before staging a fast, recently.
He said that LTTE chief Prabhakaran would not flee the country at any cost, but the war will get intensified soon with guerilla warfare in which LTTE would have an upper hand.
Flaying DMK’s atrocities, Nedumaran said the government was acting in favour of CM’s son M K Azhagiri, DMK candidate for Madurai. He condemned the attack on the cadre of opposition alliance by the DMK functionaries and alleged that DMK had been bribing voters and threatening the public to vote for Azhagiri.
‘Jaya’s call for Eelam a poll gimmick’
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K V Thangkabalu on Sunday described AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s call for a separate Eelam as an election gimmick. He told reporters here that only a month ago Jayalalitha had said that deaths of innocent civilians were inevitable in the war between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE. Her new stand on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue was apparently with an eye on the Lok Saba elections. Her separate Eelam call was purely politically motivated, Thangkabalu asserted. He said the Congress on the other hand was a party that had made the highest sacrifice for the Sri Lankan Tamils - the price was paid with Rajiv Gandhi’s life.
Express News Service
First Published : 04 May 2009 02:42:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 04 May 2009 07:19:54 AM IST
MADURAI: Nearly 2,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the attacks, including aerial bombings, carried out by the Sri Lankan army during the last 15 hours in places like Mullaivaikkal, Otraipanaiyadi, Valaiyargund and Irattaivaikkal, alleged P Nedumaran, president, Tamil Nationalist Movement, here on Sunday.
There were bodies everywhere, he said, and added that 1.5 lakh Tamil civilians were trapped in the war zone without food or medicine. He wanted the United Nations to intervene to feed those people and see to it that their medical needs were met.
Nedumaran said: “Though Union Home Minister P Chidambaram keeps on saying that ceasefire is in place in Lanka, according to the Lankan military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the war had not ended but only heavy weapons were restrained from being used.” On India’s arms aid, he charged that Lanka had acknowledged receiving weapons and training from India, Pakistan and China and it gave them a winning edge over the LTTE. He said that Nanayakkara had lauded the efforts of India in sharing crucial information about LTTE.
According to Nedumaran, AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa might be right as Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had not refuted the charge of holding secret dialogues with Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, before staging a fast, recently.
He said that LTTE chief Prabhakaran would not flee the country at any cost, but the war will get intensified soon with guerilla warfare in which LTTE would have an upper hand.
Flaying DMK’s atrocities, Nedumaran said the government was acting in favour of CM’s son M K Azhagiri, DMK candidate for Madurai. He condemned the attack on the cadre of opposition alliance by the DMK functionaries and alleged that DMK had been bribing voters and threatening the public to vote for Azhagiri.
‘Jaya’s call for Eelam a poll gimmick’
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K V Thangkabalu on Sunday described AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s call for a separate Eelam as an election gimmick. He told reporters here that only a month ago Jayalalitha had said that deaths of innocent civilians were inevitable in the war between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE. Her new stand on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue was apparently with an eye on the Lok Saba elections. Her separate Eelam call was purely politically motivated, Thangkabalu asserted. He said the Congress on the other hand was a party that had made the highest sacrifice for the Sri Lankan Tamils - the price was paid with Rajiv Gandhi’s life.
