Chennai: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that he has done nothing for the Sri Lankan Tamils while rushing to the rescue of Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi.
"Manmohan Singh seems to be quiet on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. But when it came to Sonia Gandhi's friend Ottavio Quattrochchi, he had nice things to say. He said 'it's not good to hurt others'. Is he then saying that the Sri Lankan government is not hurting Tamils in Sri Lanka? Are Sri Lankan Tamils Italians? Or are they relatives of Sonia Gandhi? They are after all only Tamilians... that's why the issue is being trivialised," said Jayalalithaa.
The AIADMK supremo has been demanding separate Eelam for Sri Lankan Tamils as a solution to the ethnic crisis in the island nation.
However, the Congress has called Jayalalithaa's demand for separate Eelam for Sri Lankan Tamils a "political drama".
"She is contradicting her own stand on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Her demand for a separate Eelam is a political drama. We will not encourage any secessionist activities and oppose such activities tooth and nail in the state," Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K V Thangkabalu was quoted as saying by PTI in Chennai on Wednesday.
He termed the Congress-led UPA's stand on Sri Lankan Tamils issue as "correct one." A demand for ceasefire was made even in the President's address in the joint session of Parliament recently, he said.
"We want peace to prevail in Sri Lanka. The Centre is not supplying arms to Sri Lanka," he said in response to a query.
He claimed that Colombo had declared cessation of use of heavy weapons in the conflict zone due to pressure from India.
However, the Sri Lankan Tamils issue won't be an election matter in the state, he said adding that Congress and its ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) were seeking votes on the achievements of the Central and state governments.
(With inputs from PTI)
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