new delhi/Chennai: There is still no certainty over whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will go to Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM). The Congress Core Group is likely to take a final decision today.
DMK president M Karunanidhi yesterday asked Prime Minister to act according to his conscience and urged India to boycott the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka. Karunanidhi told reporters: “The prime minister has conscience. He should act according to his conscience.”
He said nobody from India — the prime minister or anybody else — should participate in the Commonwealth meeting to be held in Colombo.
All the major political parties in Tamil Nadu including the ruling AIADMK, DMK, Congress, DMDK and PMK want India to boycott the CHOGM at Sri Lanka in protest against “war crimes” there.
The Tamil Nadu assembly has passed an unanimous resolution urging the Indian government to keep away from CHOGM.
Critics say that Sri Lankan security forces killed thousands of innocent Tamils during the final stages of the war against the LTTE and Colombo has since then refused to give political autonomy to the Tamils. Karunanidhi said his demand had nothing to do with whether or not the DMK was with the Congress-led UPA government.
“The issue is not about outside support (to the government). We have already come out of the government.”
Reports say there will likely be more protests in Tamil Nadu over the Human Rights violations against Sri Lankan Tamils. Pressure is building on the government not just from parties in Tamil Nadu but also from leaders within the Congress.
Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan also hoped that the prime minister will take a decision keeping in view the sentiments of Tamils. “I hope the Prime Minister will take a good decision,” she told reporters in Chennai on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, which faces international censure over alleged war crimes, has revoked visas of human rights experts for a meeting coinciding with a Commonwealth summit, the International Bar Association said yesterday.
The London-based IBA’s team of experts had their visas withdrawn ahead of their planned attendance at a seminar next week in Colombo, where the 53-member Commonwealth bloc also holds its summit — an event that takes place every two years.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka said the government’s decision to block their foreign guest speakers amounted to a “clear assault” on freedom of speech and association. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) was due to attend a seminar titled: “Making Commonwealth Values a Reality: the Rule of Law and the Independence of the Legal Profession.”
AFP
