PM will visit Jaffna, meet Tamil leader, P Chidambaram says
CHENNAI: Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Jaffna and hold talks with recently-elected Northern Province chief minister C V Wigneswaran."Wigneswaran's invite (to the PM) is still alive," the finance minister said, while speaking at a conference on "Sri Lankan Tamils' right to livelihood and India's stand," held in Chennai on Saturday.
In an effort to explain the Congress party's stand on Sri Lanka affairs in the wake of the opposition to India's participation in the recently-held Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Colombo, Chidambaram said the PM skipping the meet and sending a representative was a "wise" decision.
It is significant that while there was stiff opposition amongst parties in Tamil Nadu against the PM's participation in the summit, they hailed the visit of British premier David Cameron to Jaffna.
"We should not adopt a confrontational attitude with our neighbour, but should continue to engage Sri Lanka," Chidambaram said, adding, "We hope Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha will change his attitude (about extending equal rights to Tamils on par with the Sinhalese)."
Chidambaram's move is seen as an effort to clarify the UPA government's decision to depute external affairs minister Salman Khurshid to attend the summit despite opposition in Tamil Nadu against India's participation and mollify the pro-Eelam lobby.
"I am the organiser, host and speaker (at the conference) because the Congress party (TN unit) has not organised an appropriate public forum to speak on these issues," he said. Chidambaram's move is aimed at assuring the Tamil Nadu electorate about the commitment of the Congress to Sri Lankan Tamil welfare in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
The Union minister said the Indian government will continue to urge the international forum and Lanka to investigate the human rights violations in that country. "If they (the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government) had heeded our advice in the final stages of the war, Prabhakaran would have been alive today," he said. "The Centre will not rest until a genuine , detailed investigation is initiated against genocide and the perpetrators are brought to justice," he added.
Hitting out at the Sri Lankan government for "diluting" the 13th amendment, akey constitutional provision that promises autonomy to Lankan Tamils, he said the Congress would continue to strive for the implementation of the amendment, a result of the Rajiv-Jayawardene accord.
On Cameron's visit to Jaffna, which received cheers from certain quarters, Chidambaram termed it "a diplomatic victory" for India and implied it was a result of the country voicing the concerns of Lankan Tamils in international forums.
"The Indian Prime Minister's decision not to participate in CHOGM is sensible and wise, and a shock treatment to Lanka," he said, but went on to justify the participation of a delegation led by Salman Khurshid. "India is a neighbour and cannot act against Lanka, a sovereign nation . Both countries will have to maintain friendliness," he said.
Recalling the rehabilitation measures taken up by India for the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils, which he said was "more than" what India did for Bangladesh , including housing, schools and other basic civic amenities with crores of rupees of funding, Chidambaram wondered whether the BJP could do similar work. The party, a political face of RSS, did not endorse a resolution of the Congress-led government, to be passed in Parliament against Sri Lanka.
"It is the Congress government which spends money for Tamils, raises voice for their welfare and exerts pressure on the Sri Lankan government," he said.
