Most parties oppose anti-Lanka resolution
21 March 2013 7:16 AM IST
The all-party meeting convened by UPA government to explore the possibility of Parliament adopting a resolution against Sri Lanka on Wednesday night saw most parties opposing such a move, leaving no scope for it. At the 90-minute meeting, only DMK and AIADMK supported the idea of bringing a resolution.
Sources said as most of the parties were not in favour, the idea is as good as given up. Samajwadi Party, which supports the government from outside, said Sri Lanka is a friendly country and the Indian Parliament should not pass a resolution against it. ‘We are with Lankan Tamils but there is no need for a resolution by Parliament as Lanka is the only country which stood with us during the 1962 China war’, SP leader Rewati Raman Singh said.
‘We have recently rejected Pakistan parliament resolution on Afzal Guru. How can we do the same to a friendly neighbour. At the UNHCR, India should do what is in the national interest and interst of Tamils of Lanka,’ the SP leader said. JD(U) Sharad Yadav also echoed similar views at the meeting where he is understood to have questioned the logic of adopting a resolution against a sovereign nation.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said the meeting was ‘inconclusive’. He said the meeting had been called to end the impasse in Parliament over the Lankan Tamil issue but ‘it has not produced any results’. Leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj questioned why all parties had been called for the meeting to discuss an issue which strictly is between the government and DMK. DMK, which withdrew from the government on Tuesday, had demanded government should get a resolution passed by Parliament. Swaraj said the government had told the opposition that it wanted to hold the meeting to end the impasse. ‘We had never created the impasse. The impasse is between government and DMK,’ she said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said: ‘Our party supports the cause of Tamil brothers and sisters. We are deeply concerned about the atrocities meted out to a section of Tamil population in a foreign country. Local sentiments and their causes sometimes become very critical. We are supporting their cause. At the same time, our party follows a policy that we should not interfere into issues involving external relations with foreign countries.’
Sources said as most of the parties were not in favour, the idea is as good as given up. Samajwadi Party, which supports the government from outside, said Sri Lanka is a friendly country and the Indian Parliament should not pass a resolution against it. ‘We are with Lankan Tamils but there is no need for a resolution by Parliament as Lanka is the only country which stood with us during the 1962 China war’, SP leader Rewati Raman Singh said.
‘We have recently rejected Pakistan parliament resolution on Afzal Guru. How can we do the same to a friendly neighbour. At the UNHCR, India should do what is in the national interest and interst of Tamils of Lanka,’ the SP leader said. JD(U) Sharad Yadav also echoed similar views at the meeting where he is understood to have questioned the logic of adopting a resolution against a sovereign nation.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said the meeting was ‘inconclusive’. He said the meeting had been called to end the impasse in Parliament over the Lankan Tamil issue but ‘it has not produced any results’. Leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj questioned why all parties had been called for the meeting to discuss an issue which strictly is between the government and DMK. DMK, which withdrew from the government on Tuesday, had demanded government should get a resolution passed by Parliament. Swaraj said the government had told the opposition that it wanted to hold the meeting to end the impasse. ‘We had never created the impasse. The impasse is between government and DMK,’ she said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said: ‘Our party supports the cause of Tamil brothers and sisters. We are deeply concerned about the atrocities meted out to a section of Tamil population in a foreign country. Local sentiments and their causes sometimes become very critical. We are supporting their cause. At the same time, our party follows a policy that we should not interfere into issues involving external relations with foreign countries.’
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