Moving a resolution in the Tamil Nadu Assembly that opposed even a token representation by India at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa pointed out that there has been worldwide condemnation against Colombo for the killing of Tamils during the final stages of the 2009 war.
The resolution was unanimously adopted by the Assembly on Thursday. The Chief Minister recalled that soon after assuming office in May 2011, she had moved a resolution asking the Centre to take initiatives through the United Nations to declare all those involved in the genocide of Tamils as war criminals. The resolution also sought economic sanctions against Lanka until the displaced Tamils were rehabilitated to their native places with equal rights on a par with Sinhalese. However, the Centre had failed to act upon this resolution.
Later, the training to Lankan military personnel at defence establishments in Tamil Nadu was stopped following her stiff opposition.
Again, media reports on the tardy pace of rehabilitation of Tamils affected by war and them being treated as second class citizens has fueled passions back home and on May 25, she had written to the Prime Minister asking him to take steps to change the venue of the CHOGM meet to some other country and that India should boycott the meet.
The resolution she had moved in the Assembly on March 27 urged India to stop calling Lanka a “friendly nation” and pressed for an independent international enquiry into the genocide of Tamils and the human rights violations in Lanka. It also demanded that all those found guilty of war crimes should be made to face trial before the International Court of Justice.
Significantly, it demanded holding of a referendum among Tamil diaspora in Lanka on the creation of a separate Eelam. “The Centre had failed to act on this resolution too,” Jayalalithaa pointed out on Thursday.
Reading out the Commonwealth Proclamation of Human Rights, Jayalalithaa charged the Lankan government with flouting its principles. Citing the conduct of Lanka, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had decided to boycott the meet and observed that Colombo had failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values which were cherished by Canadians, she added.