Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has called PM-elect Narendra Modi's invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his swearing in ceremony on Monday unfortunate. Jayalalithaa said that even before the new prime minister and the new government had assumed office and begun functioning, the unfortunate move of inviting the Sri Lankan President to attend the swearing-in ceremony had deeply upset the people of Tamil Nadu and wounded their sentiments.
Jayalalithaa said that his invitation was tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the Tamil psyche.
"We had hoped that the new government to be formed at the Centre would be sympathetic to the cause of Tamils and friendly to the state of Tamil Nadu," she said in a statement. She added that it would have been better if the "ill-advised" move had been avoided.
Below is the full text of her statement:
I have noted with dismay reports in the media that the Sri Lankan President, Thiru Mahinda Rajapaksa has been invited to the Swearing-in Ceremony of the new Prime Minister of India and that the Sri Lankan President has accepted the invitation and stated that he will be present at the ceremony. The sentiments of the people of Tamil Nadu and Tamils living in other parts of India and abroad are well known in the matter pertaining to Sri Lankan Tamils.
There has been a General Election to the Lok Sabha and a new Government is to take charge in a few days, but this in no way alters the already existing strained relations between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The entire country and indeed the entire world is aware of the various Resolutions passed in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly during the last three years, with regard to the war crimes, ethnic pogrom and genocide perpetrated against the Sri Lankan Tamil people by the Sri Lankan Army under the Rajapaksa Government in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the civil war in Sri Lanka.
We had demanded an economic embargo on Sri Lanka and urged that India should take the lead in bringing a Resolution in the United Nations for those accused of war crimes and genocide to be brought before the International Court of Justice and that they should be made to face trial. But, the previous Central Government chose to ignore the Resolutions passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly by not taking any action and thereby trampled on the sentiments of the Tamils. We had hoped that the new Government to be formed at the Centre would be sympathetic to the cause of Tamils and friendly to the State of Tamil Nadu. However, even before the new Prime Minister and the new Government assume office and begin functioning, this unfortunate move of inviting the Sri Lankan President to attend the Swearing-in Ceremony of the new Prime Minister of India has deeply upset the people of Tamil Nadu and wounded their sentiments all over again. This is tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the already deeply injured Tamil psyche.
It is with a deep sense of anguish that we point this out to the new Government to be formed at the Centre. Particularly, with regard to the relationship of the new Central Government with the Government of Tamil Nadu, it would have been better if this ill advised move had been avoided.
J Jayalalithaa
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
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