REFUGEE

CHENNAI: Accusing Chief Minister M Karunanidhi of taking Tamils for a ride over the visit of a team of MPs to Sri Lanka, AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Tue sday said the delegation merely comprised “assorted politicians from parties propping up the DMK government in the State.” In a statement here, she said: “Karunanidhi has confessed in the question-answer column in the paper (Murasoli). The all-party parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka is not an ‘all-party’ affair after all. It was never intended to be. That is why Opposition parties were invited to join it. Neither is it an official delegation of MPs as it was originally made out to be.” “Very cleverly, MPs from these parties have been selected to give the impression that it is a parliamentary delegation and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa might also be a victim of this subterfuge and will be rolling out the red carpet to them under the impression that they are official delegates of the Indian Government,” she said. Claiming that the delegates would be taken on a guided tour of specific Tamil areas where the oppression of the Lankan government was minimal, she said the outcome of the visit could well be predicted.
On their return, “the bogus delegation” would submit a report to the Chief Minister.
“They will say that there is a huge problem in the hands of the Lankan government, which is earnestly trying to resettle the displaced persons. They will make a ‘candid admission’ that there are some shortcomings, but that this is to be expected when handling a problem of such massive proportions.’’ The former chief minister said the delegation “will also claim that Rajapaksa had given them a solemn assurance that he would do his best in the least possible time.” She said posterity and the Tamils would never forgive Karunanidhi for his latest act of duplicity.