Indian Minister condemns those supporting Tigers

Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation G K Vasan on Sunday said the UPA Government led by Manmohan Singh had been approaching the island Tamils’ issue, with much care and deliberation lest it should affect the friendly relations with a neighbouring country Sri Lanka.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the launch of a Tamil fortnightly Desiya Murasu, Vasan said the action of the Indian Government on the Lankan issue had received approbation not only from the people of Tamil Nadu, but also from those living in India and abroad.

Though India had been taking initiatives to end the problem of Tamils in the island nation, the opposition parties in the State were criticising the efforts of the Centre and were trying to put the spoke in its wheel, he said. “Stop politicising the Lankan issue by paying lip service to it as the Indian Government alone is competent to handle it with the powers it has,’’ he said.

Vasan also decried the indirect support extended to a banned militant outfit like the LTTE by some groups in the State and wanted the implementation of the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord of 1987 which had carried several far-reaching recommendations to end the ethnic crisis.

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