“Sri Lankan Navy won’t fire on Indian fishermen”

Sri Lanka has assured India that there will be no firing by the Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen hereafter, M.K. Narayanan, National Security Adviser, said on Monday.

In the event of arrest of the fishermen, they would be released in the “shortest possible time.” They would be given “humanitarian treatment as far as possible,” and there would be no “maltreatment” of the Indian fishermen, Mr. Narayanan told journalists, emerging from a 40-minute-long meeting with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and senior officials of the State government at the Secretariat.

Describing as “positive understanding” the outcome of discussions at bilateral meetings between India and Sri Lanka early this month prior to the summit of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation, Mr. Narayanan said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his meeting with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa went into great detail on each of the points raised by the Chief Minister in his letter to Dr. Singh and personal discussions with him.

On the basis of the discussions, a “tentative understanding” was reached, he said.

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http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/26/stories/2008082650050100.htm

Setusamundram project would facilitate LTTE: Swamy

Former Union minister Dr Subramaniam Swamy today told the Supreme Court that national security would be compromised if Sethusamundram canal project is completed ignoring the warnings given by the navy chief as well as director of coast guards according to whom the canal would facilitate the LTTE's activities in India.

Dr Swamy told a bench comprising chief justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendrtan J M Panchal that the canal project would help LTTE to shift its base to Cochin and they will have easy and direct acess from Zafna, LTTE's strong hold in Srilanka to Cochin in Kerala.

Dr Swamy, responding to the query of Justice R V Raveendran asking, who goes in the middle of the sea to offer pooja at Ramsetu also known as Adam's bridge said " we worship sun but we don't have to go to sun." Taking a dig at Tamil Nadu government he contended, in case of Jallikattu, where bulls were subjected to physical torture, the Tamil Nadu government took the stand that it is a matter of faith and in the present case where the faith of millions of Hindu's across the globe is involved the Centre and Karunanidhi government were not be prepared to accept the truth.

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http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?

Sri Lanka not worried about possible Indian intervention

The Sri Lankan government said Thursday it was not worried about the resolution passed by an Indian state to intervene in Sri Lanka's escalating conflict between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

Keheliya Rambukwella, the government's defense spokesman was reacting to a resolution adopted by the Indian state of Tamil Naducalling on the Indian central government to play a proactive role in Sri Lanka.

Rambukwella told reporters that Sri Lanka understands the political compulsions in neighboring India in getting drawn into action with regard to the conflict in the island, "but the Indian government stands supportive of our campaign to eliminate terrorism," Rambukwella said.

India's Tamil Nadu state assembly headed by its Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi adopted the resolution on Wednesday.

"India should arrange for talks between the two parties and help arrive at a political solution," the resolution said.

Tamil Nadu, the southern Indian state across Sri Lanka's northern border, is home to over 50 million Tamils with ties to Sri Lankan Tamil community.

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http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-04/24/content_8044537.htm

Jayalalithaa questions 'inaction' against VCK leader

The war of words between Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa on the LTTE issue continued unabated with the latter on Wednesday wanting to know why the government had not yet taken action against Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Tirumavalavan for his alleged statements in support of the banned outfit.

Though the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) had been repealed, the Chief Minister was still harping on it and maintaining that there was no legal avenue to take action against the VCK leader, she said in a statement here.

She said the Centre had banned the LTTE under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 1992 which was being renewed every two years. As per Section 39 of the Act, expressing support to the proscribed LTTE was a crime, attracting an imprisonment of 10 years, she contended.

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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200802201744.htm

'Centre should take against Karunanidhi for LTTE support'

The Opposition AIADMK on Wednesday urged the Centre to take action against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for his open support to the proscribed LTTE and play a role in finding a political solution to the ethnic Tamils issue in Sri Lanka.

A resolution adopted at the party's General Council, the highest policy making body, said that after coming to power in the aftermath of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the AIADMK Government headed by J Jayalalithaa had taken stern action against the LTTE, responsible for the assassination, and had played a vital role in banning it.

However, after coming back to power, Karunanidhi, while remaining silent against the supporters of the LTTE, went a step ahead and offered condolence eulogising the death of LTTE political wing leader S P Tamilchelvan.

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http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1150679

LTTE rocks Congress-DMK boat again

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas are once again at the heart of a row between Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK party and the Congress.

Chief Minister and DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi has expressed his disgust over the stand of the Congress, some of whose leaders have accused him of going soft on those in Tamil Nadu allegedly sympathetic to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) .

In an unusual outburst, Karunanidhi Sunday described as 'untrue' allegations that his government was allowing the LTTE to have a free run in Tamil Nadu. He asserted that 92 people linked to the LTTE had been arrested in the past 20 months that the DMK has ruled the state that is separated from Sri Lanka by a strip of sea.

Alleging he 'suspected a conspiracy' to destabilise his regime, he reacted angrily: 'Our self-respect is dearer than the crown of thorns that denotes power. We are ready to lose power if (our self-respect) is under threat.'

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http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20080206/95912.htm

Karuna ready to lose power on LTTE issue

Piqued by frequent criticism from key ally Congress, accusing the DMK government of not cracking down hard on LTTE supporters, an angry Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today hit back, saying he was prepared to lose power on the issue.

"If you want to dethrone us by levelling false allegations, I am ready to face that change of power in Tamil Nadu," he said at a wedding ceremony of a relative of his associate Shanmuganathan, where Congress leaders, including TNCC president M Krishnasamy were present. Reacting to remarks by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram at Nagercoil last night, where he reportedly said the LTTE continued to operate in the state and asked the government to "nip the issue in the bud", Karunanidhi said the Congress should not be a party to a conspiracy to topple his government.

"I am the disciple of late C N Annadurai, who gave up his Dravida Nadu (seperate nationhood for Tamils) demand for strengthening the unity of India," he said Karunanidhi listed out his government's efforts to curb LTTE activities, including arrests of members of the outfit and its supporters. He wondered if it was fair on the part of the Congress to have accused him of giving room to the LTTE in Tamil Nadu.

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http://news.indiainfo.com/2008/02/03/0802031857_karuna_congress.html

TN bans pro-LTTE meeting

As the LTTE issue threatened to drive a wedge between the DMK and its ally the Congress, whose members walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, with AIADMK members recently, the Tamil Nadu government today banned the “conference for Tamils’ rights,” organised by pro-LTTE leader Mr P Nedumaran tomorrow at Cuddalore.

Condemning the ban, Mr Nedumaran said chief minister Mr M Karunanidhi had bowed to the “threats of anti-Tamils who are depicting any support to Sri Lankan Tamils as a betrayal of national interests”. Such bans had been lifted by the courts earlier, he said, adding that he would move Madras High Court against the ban.

Extracted from,
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=188623

Tamil Nadu Assembly Ends With Row Over LTTE

The last day of the Tamil Nadu assembly session ended Friday as it had begun - with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) topping the agenda of all parties in the house.

The ruling DMK headed by M. Karunanidhi was asked by both the opposition AIADMK and ally Congress to crack down on 'supporters of terrorism'.

Making a rare appearance in the house, Leader of Opposition J. Jayalalitha blasted the DMK government on law and order and alleged that the state was 'becoming a haven for anti-social elements and extremists'.

She added that Tamil Nadu was becoming 'an LTTE base' and an 'arms den'. The government, she said, was unable to protect even leaders of friendly parties - a reference to the recent attack on Tamil Nadu Congress president M. Krishnaswamy by an armed gang while he was on a visit to the southern districts.

In a vitriolic speech, the former chief minister said that allies of the government were taking inspiration from Karunanidhi in expressing support for outfits like the LTTE, banned in India.

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http://newspostindia.com/report-34638

Congress seeks stern action against LTTE supporters

Congress on Monday asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to take "stern action" against the LTTE supporters in the state.

In a letter to Karunanidhi, state Congress President M Krishnaswamy said that in the past two months, some political as well as non-political organisations had been "openly supporting" LTTE, the banned terrorist outfit, at public meetings and through media.

"They were also making comments demeaning the Congress, which not only hurt the sentiments of the party workers in the state, but also the feelings of the public as a whole," he said in the letter.

Read more,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/

Karunanidhi directly supporting LTTE: Jaya

Accusing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi of directly supporting the LTTE, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa on Tuesday asked the Centre to take stern action against him for having ''facilitated the release of an LTTE supporter'' on bail.

Her charge comes at a time when Karunanidhi is visiting New Delhi to take part in the Chief Ministers Conference on Internal Security on December 20.

''On a tip-off from central agencies, one Vanniyarasu, belonging to ruling DMK's ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal (VC), was arrested by police for allegedly supplying boats to the banned outfit,'' she said in a statement.

Within few hours of the news got spread, VC Chief Thol Tirumavalavan called on Karunanidhi and Vanniyarasu was released on bail on the same day, she claimed.

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http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=

MK supporting LTTE: Jaya

AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was lending 'open support to the banned LTTE'.

In a statement in Chennai, the AIADMK leader urged the Centre to take note and initiate stern action. ‘The whole country was shocked by the recently held LTTE operatives in Chennai. When I said that LTTE had close links with local politicians here, I was only blamed.’

Stating that law and order situation was in control and extremist elements were crushed when she was in power, Jayalalithaa said the prevailing situation could have happened only with the counsel or blessings of Karunanidhi.

Extracted from,
http://www.chennaivision.com/enews/2007/Dec/13/MK-supporting-LTTE-Jaya.asp

Congress takes on Karunanidhi over ode to LTTE leader

The Congress Saturday implicitly criticised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi over his ode to a slain Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger leader, saying it was bound to hurt the sentiments of party members.

In a clear reference to a poem Karunanidhi wrote in memory of S.P. Thamilchelvan, the Congress said that the 'sentiments of all Congress men and women are bound to get hurt if the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is eulogised in any manner'.

Thamilchelvan, the LTTE political wing leader, was killed in a bombing raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force in the island's north Nov 2.

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http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20071117/81112.htm

Congress slams Karunanidhi for praising slain LTTE leader

The Congress Monday slammed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for 'mourning' slain LTTE leader S.P. Thamilchelvan and reminded him that LTTE was an organisation banned in the country.

'The Congress disapproves Chief Minister Karunanidhi's mourning the death of the LTTE leader Thamilchelvan,' party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told reporters Monday.

Karunanidhi has also invited criticism from arch rival AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha for penning a poem on the slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader, praising his courage and mental strength.

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http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20071105/79141.htm

Jayalalithaa flays Karunanidhi for condoling LTTE leader's death

Condemning Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for "eulogising" LTTE political wing secretary Thamilselvan, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa on Saturday night demanded the dismissal of his government for violating the Constitution by supporting the banned Sri Lankan outfit.

In a statement here, she said Karunanidhi's "action of praising Thamilselvan", killed in an airstrike by the Sri Lankan airforce on Friday, was unconstitutional as the LTTE was banned in India and its leader V Prabhakaran was a proclaimed offender in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

She alleged it was clear from Karunananidhi's action he had "secret ties" with the LTTE and had been "helping" them.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200711040346.htm