09 Mar: CHENNAI: Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa on Monday scored a significant victory over her political rivals in the state when she declared her party’s support for the demand of a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka, within the ambit of a unified Lankan Constitution, during a mega protest fast organised by her party in the city.

Though this might appear to be a clear departure from the earlier stand of the AIADMK on the issue of a separate state (don’t read Tamil Eelam) for the Lankan Tamils, political pundits could view the latest statement of Jayalalithaa as a well timed tactic to win the people’s support in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu.

The AIADMK leader also said that her party would support the demand for equal, political, educational, legal and job rights for the Tamils in the island nation, besides the move to enable them to attain self-determination through the devolution of power.

Jayalalitha, however, made her stand clear that her party would never support the armed struggle of the LTTE, because of its murky track record involving the killing of Rajiv Gandhi on Tamil Nadu soil.

The AIADMK supremo set the tone for her political campaign by making a personal contribution of Rs. 5 lakhs to the Sri Lanka Relief Fund, promoted by her party at the venue of the fast, organised to protest the killings of Tamils in Lanka.

Her political supporters — the MDMK, left parties, TN Desiya Congress, Indian National League, Puthiya Tamizhagam, RPI and others — also made the occasion a forum to promote their common agenda on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue.

Jayalalithaa virtually launched a tirade against the UPA at the Centre and the DMK in the State, particularly on their inability to stop the genocide in the island nation through meaningful actions, both in her speech and even while addressing the media at the venue of the fast.

"Now it has been made public that the Indian Government has not only supplied sophisticated arms and ammunition to Lanka, but has also imparted training to the Sri Lankan army to fight the Lankan Tamils. The question arises against whom all this has been used. The UPA Government and the DMK Government are active collaborators in aiding the genocide perpetrated by the Lankan Government,"’ she alleged.

She also said that the UPA and the DMK Government should be accused of criminal neglect over their failure to provide any kind of relief to the suffering Tamils in Lanka. "If they have any concern, they should have rushed medical and other relief assistance to the Sri Lankan Tamils. India should have also brought pressure to bring the genocide to a halt. But, instead, both the UPA and DMK leaders have been indulging in empty rhetoric," she noted.

All sections of Tamils are greatly distressed at the genocide of Sri Lanka Tamils and the way the Indian Government and the DMK Government have been handling the issue, she said, and added that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s sinister game and double speak on the Lankan issue are very much evident in not allowing his Ministers to come out of the Union Cabinet despite the failure of the UPA Government over the Sri Lankan issue.

"Karunanidhi’s only interest is to promote the politics of dynasty — by grooming his sons M. K. Stalin and M. K. Azhagiri and daughter Kanimozhi to become future leaders of the State," she remarked.

"All this will have an impact in the coming Lok Sabha elections," she said and added that the people of Tamil Nadu would teach a fitting lesson to the DMK Government at the hustings.