CHENNAI: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Saturday said that the sudden regime change in Sri Lanka encompasses “several mysteries” and has triggered concerns among Tamil Nadu fishermen and Tamils in the island nation.
Stalin, the leader of opposition in the assembly, said the return of Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the country’s new Prime Minister has shocked Tamils across the world.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena had, in a surprise move on Friday, sacked incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as the new premier.
“The changes that have occurred in the Sri Lankan government in a single night encompasses several mysteries and have threatened the Tamils there who are denied their rights,” Stalin stated.
Towards this, Stalin pointed out the recent Delhi visits of Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe. He also mentioned media reports about Sirisena recently alleging that the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, hatched a plot to assassinate him, though Sirisena later denied this.
The background to Rajapaksa assuming office all of a sudden as Sri Lanka’s premier, even when he doesn’t have a majority, has shocked Tamils, Stalin claimed.
The DMK chief alleged that Rajapaksa was behind the killings of Tamil people (during the civil war between Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009) and Tamil Nadu fishermen at the hands of Lankan Navy during his tenure.
Stalin said that “if such a situation continued in Sri Lanka”, it would become a challenge to India’s interests. He asked the Centre to give clarifications on the recent visits of Lankan leaders and the allegations drawing RAW into a controversy.”