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India should boycott CHOGM: Tamil Nadu assembly
By: Tupaki Desk | 12 Nov 2013 5:43 PM GMTThe Tamil Nadu assembly Tuesday again urged the central government to totally boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held in Colombo.
The assembly asked New Delhi not to send any representative for the foreign ministers' meeting Nov 13 or CHOGM summit Nov 15-17 in Colombo while respecting the sentiments of Tamils.
Later, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa sent a copy of the resolution to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to act immediately on it.
According to the resolution passed unanimously, India's participation in CHOGM would mean that the country accepts the inhuman acts of the Sri Lankan regime vis-a-vis Tamils.
Not only that, India would be blamed for enabling the Sri Lankan president to head CHOGM for the next two years which Tamils would not tolerate.
It referred to the earlier resolution passed in the assembly urging the central government to take steps to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth till the island nation takes steps to grant Tamils all political rights that Sinhalese there enjoy.
The assembly expressed its deep regret at the Indian government's decision to depute a delegation, led by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, to attend CHOGM despite the Tamil Nadu assembly's request that India must boycott the summit.
The central government's decision to keep away Manmohan Singh from the summit does not comfort Tamils or respect their sentiments and is "very saddening", it said.
Jayalalithaa said India should take steps to impose economic sanctions on the island nation.
She said that a July 2011 assembly resolution had called upon the central government to impress upon the United Nations to declare those who carried out "war crimes" in Sri Lanka as war criminals.
The reference was to the killing of a large number of Tamil civilians during the final stages of Sri Lanka's war that crushed the Tamil Tigers in May 2009. Colombo has denied charges of "war crimes".
In March this year, another assembly resolution urged the central government to stop declaring Sri Lanka as a friendly nation.
Jayalalithaa said Sri Lanka's internally displaced Tamils have not been rehabilitated and military presence in Tamil areas continues.
The assembly asked New Delhi not to send any representative for the foreign ministers' meeting Nov 13 or CHOGM summit Nov 15-17 in Colombo while respecting the sentiments of Tamils.
Later, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa sent a copy of the resolution to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to act immediately on it.
According to the resolution passed unanimously, India's participation in CHOGM would mean that the country accepts the inhuman acts of the Sri Lankan regime vis-a-vis Tamils.
Not only that, India would be blamed for enabling the Sri Lankan president to head CHOGM for the next two years which Tamils would not tolerate.
It referred to the earlier resolution passed in the assembly urging the central government to take steps to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth till the island nation takes steps to grant Tamils all political rights that Sinhalese there enjoy.
The assembly expressed its deep regret at the Indian government's decision to depute a delegation, led by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, to attend CHOGM despite the Tamil Nadu assembly's request that India must boycott the summit.
The central government's decision to keep away Manmohan Singh from the summit does not comfort Tamils or respect their sentiments and is "very saddening", it said.
Jayalalithaa said India should take steps to impose economic sanctions on the island nation.
She said that a July 2011 assembly resolution had called upon the central government to impress upon the United Nations to declare those who carried out "war crimes" in Sri Lanka as war criminals.
The reference was to the killing of a large number of Tamil civilians during the final stages of Sri Lanka's war that crushed the Tamil Tigers in May 2009. Colombo has denied charges of "war crimes".
In March this year, another assembly resolution urged the central government to stop declaring Sri Lanka as a friendly nation.
Jayalalithaa said Sri Lanka's internally displaced Tamils have not been rehabilitated and military presence in Tamil areas continues.
