The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is engaged in a despicable campaign to drag India into the internal politics of Sri Lanka by falsely asserting that India supports opposition candidate General (retd) Sarath Fonseka in the forthcoming Presidential election, former MP and former Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party of India, Dr. R. Anbarasu said.
Issuing a statement Dr. Anbarasu said, the mischievous statement by TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah that India has endorsed the TNA's decision to support the retired General is aimed at demonstrating to the Tamils in Sri Lanka, particularly the Indian origin Tamils that the former Army Commander enjoys the support of India. What Senathirajah implies is that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has lost favor with India and India has now accepted Fonseka as a viable alternative, he said.
“It is a calculated mischievous political move to bring India into conflict with Sri Lanka as any indication of support to either of the main candidates would amount to interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country,” he said.
“India has good neighbourly relations with Sri Lanka and it appears that the TNA MPs who are pro- LTTE would like to damage our relations with Sri Lanka,” he added.
The full text of the statement:
Sri Lanka's Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is engaged in a despicable campaign to drag India into the internal politics of Sri Lanka by falsely asserting that India supports General Sarath Fonseka in the forthcoming Sri Lankan Presidential Election.
A four member TNA delegation consisting of MPs R. Sampanthan, Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran and Selvam Adaikalanathan came to New Delhi last week after telling the Sri Lankan media that they have been invited by India for talks with the government leaders.
At the end of their visit, a prominent member of the delegation Mr. Mavai Senathirajah had given an interview to the Sri Lankan Tamil newspaper "Uthayan" saying that India has endorsed the TNA's decison to support General Sarath Fonseka in the forthcoming Sri Lankan presidential election. This news item received wide publicity in Sri Lanka, particularly among the Sri Lankan Tamils. Before arriving in New Delhi, the TNA delegation had told the media that they have been officially invited by India for urgent talks with the Indian government leaders.
My inquiries revealed that there was no official Indian invitation for the Tamil National Alliance delegation to visit India. Both the External Affairs Minister's Office and National Security Advisor's Office confirmed that no such invitation was ever made.
According to Sri Lankan Tamil media reports, members of the TNA MPs delegation were only able to meet with our Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and some unnamed Indian officials during their stay in New Delhi.
The very fact that neither the External Affairs Minister Mr. S. M. Krishna nor the National Security Advisor Mr. M. K. Narayanan, who usually handles the visiting Sri Lankan leaders did not meet the TNA delegation is proof that TNA delegation was never invited to India.
They might have been sent to New Delhi by General Sarath Fonseka, who is very keen to enlist the support of India, so that their visit to India could be used in influence the Sri Lankan Tamil voters.
The mischievous statement made by Mr. Mavai Senathirajah to the Sri Lankan Tamil newspaper "Uthayan" that India has endorsed TNA's decision to support General Sarath Fonseka is aimed at demonstrating to the Tamils in Sri Lanka, particularly the Indian Origin Plantation Tamils, that the former Sri Lankan Army Commander enjoys the support of India. What Senathirajah implies is that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has lost favour with India and India has now accepted Sarath Fonseka as a viable alternative.
It is a calculated mischievous political move to bring India into conflict with Sri Lanka as any indication of support to either of the main candidates would amount to interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
India has good neighbourly relations with Sri Lanka and it appears that TNA MPs who are pro LTTE would like to damage our relations with Sri Lanka.
As a senior Congress member from Tamil Nadu who had been associated with my late leaders Shrimathi Indira Gandhi and Shri Rajiv Gandhi in finding a peaceful settlement of the Sri Lankan Tamil problem, I have a duty to expose the mischievous conduct of the TNA Parliamentarians.
I have brought to the attention of our External Affairs Minister Mr. S. M. Krishna, National Security Advisor Mr. M. K. Narayanan and the Foreign Secretary Ms. Nirupama Rao about the mischievous statement made by Mr. Senathirajah. I have asked them to issue an official denial and clear any misunderstandings that would have been created in the minds of the present Sri Lankan government leaders.
It is an established fact that the Tamil National Alliance Mps are pro LTTE and they were made Members of Parliament at the last Sri Lankan Parliamentary Election by LTTE leader Prabhakaran after the TNA publicly acknowledged that the LTTE is the sole representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils. It is believed that the present LTTE leaders are behind TNA's decision to support General Sarath Fonseka as the LTTE media had made it known that they would like to use Sarath Fonseka as a weapon to destroy President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a revenge for the death of Prabhakaran and other LTTE leaders in May this year. The present LTTE leadership continues to blame India for the defeat and destruction of LTTE.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarians should not be entertained in India again.
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