NEW DELHI: Disappointed with the response of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna to the discussion on the problems faced by Sri Lankan Tamils, the DMK, the AIADMK and the Left parties on Thursday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha in protest.When the issue surfaced in a discussion in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193, agitated MPs did not allow Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahmed, to reply.Krishna’s reply to the debate is expected on Friday.What ticked of the MPs was Krishna’s cautious reply to the short discussion in the RS on the issue of Lankan Tamils, in which he said India would continue to reiterate to the Lankan government the urgent and imperative need for taking expeditious steps towards genuine national reconciliation, including early return of internally-displaced persons to their respective homes, early withdrawal of emergency regulations and investigations into allegations of human rights violations.Referring to the UN report that has found charges of war crimes against Sri Lankan Tamils to be true, Krishna said, “The issue has not come up, so far, in the formal agenda of any of the United Nations inter-governmental body for discussion. We are waiting so that India can take a position.”On the interview given by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Krishna slammed the Lankan defence secretary for making comments against Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.Initiating the debate, CPI leader D Raja had harsh words for the Centre, accusing it of “betraying the Sri Lankan Tamils”. “In the name of fighting the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government staged a full-scale war on Sri Lankan Tamils,” he alleged.AIADMK leader V Maitreyan questioned the figures given by the minister on the number of Tamil fishermen killed by the Lankan navy. He said Krishna had not taken note of the unanimous resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, of which his party was also a part. “He has not mentioned anything about the pro-active steps our government is going to take for bringing the war criminals to book.”Congress member E M Sudarsana Natchiappan emphasised that it was necessary to ensure that the 13th Amendment to the Lankan Constitution — centreing on the devolution of power, and which was part of the 1987 India-Sri Lanka agreement — should be fully implemented.Echoing him, CPM member T K Rangarajan spoke of the painfully slow pace of rehabilitation of Lankan Tamils. He said, “While India had promised about 50,000 houses, only 50 have been built till date.”In an impassioned speech, DMK’s Tiruchy Siva said in Tamil that he was “trying to control his tears”. He alleged that the Lankan Tamil women were sexually assaulted by the island nation’s army. He said he understood that Colombo could not be brought before the International Criminal Court, as it is not party to the Rome statute.
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