The New Indian Express
Last Updated : 10 Jun 2011 12:08:20 AM IST
Kudos to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for moving the resolution in the State Assembly urging India to ask the United Nations to declare as war criminals all those who committed excesses in the war in Sri Lanka. The brave stand of the state government, which has also demanded economic sanctions against the island nation, is only a reflection of the aspirations of the people. In the process, Jayalalithaa has also exposed the DMK regime’s lackadaisical approach in saving the Tamil people when they were being ruthlessly butchered. This has now been brought to light by a United Nations expert committee report.
On April 17, 2009, M Karunanidhi sat on a fast between breakfast and lunch at Marina in Chennai demanding an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. He abruptly called it off, saying that all will be well for the Tamil people there. We know now that most of the war crimes that have been brought to light by the UN were committed after that fast.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister has been right in pointing out that thousands of Lankan Tamils lost their lives because of the selfishness of the DMK government. Being an ally of the Congress, the DMK did not want to stand up against the Centre. After the end of the war, when the skeletons started tumbling out in the form of photographs and video clippings, reaffirming the atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan army, too, Karunanidhi maintained a stoic silence. That he never spoke against the Sri Lankan government or the Centre, even when civil rights movements were making shrill noises, was nothing but a betrayal of trust as he had crowned himself as the leader of the Tamil people world over.
Jayalalithaa has set in motion a process that would pave the way for the international community to not only proceed legally against Sri Lanka for war crimes but also rehabilitate the internally displaced Tamil people.
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