Rejecting the plea by the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government to drop his plans to protest during the visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Sanchi, MDMK leader Vaiko has said that his party’s protest will be held as planned on September 21.
Addressing his party’s conference at Karur on Saturday night, Vaiko said he had received a letter from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan that his government could not desist from welcoming Rajapaksa and so they requested him to abandon the protest.
Vaiko said he could not accede to the Chief Minister’s request, and asserted that the protest would be held as planned in a peaceful democratic manner. His party could not tolerate the visit of Rajapaksa who committed genocide of island Tamils, he said.
The MDMK leader said he had planned to write a series of articles on what happened during the final days of the Sri Lankan military offensive against the Tigers. He said his party would strive to mobilise international opinion for a referendum on independent Tamil Eelam.
Vowing to realise the ideals of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, he said his party would work to achieve the Tiger leader’s objective of an independent Tamil Eelam.
He said the Kerala government had allocated `50 crore for breaking the Mullaiperiyar dam and constructing a new dam in its place. “If Kerala succeeded in breaking the dam, people of Tamil Nadu should fight unitedly and stop sending essential commodities like rice, dhal, vegetables, meat and milk,” the MDMK leader said.
Strongly backing the anti-nuclear protests at Koodankulam, he asked how an Indian Air Force plane could fly so low, causing the death of a fisherman Sahayam.
He criticised the State government for the police firing and oppressive actions against the protesting people.
He announced that his party’s next conference would be held at Thanjavur.