Tamil parties oppose India's warship supply to Sri Lanka

Political leaders in Tamil Nadu, including AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalitha and opposition leader and DMK president M Karunanidhi, have taken exception to India’s plan to supply two warships to Sri Lanka to strengthen its surveillance capabilities.

“Any move to supply military hardware to Sri Lanka would be the most telling statement on the insensitivity of the Government of India to the strong sentiments in Tamil Nadu,” said Jayalalitha in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.

She expressed shock over media reports in which the Union minister of state in the prime minister’s office confirmed that the Centre was in the process of supplying  two naval warships to Sri Lanka.

“Under the circumstances, I strongly urge you to clarify this aspect without any delay, and even if there is an existing agreement for supply of naval warships,  I request you to move immediately to cancel the agreement and ensure that no support of any kind is provided to the Sri Lankan military forces,” she added.

Meanwhile, Karunanidhi alleged that the Sri Lankan Navy would use the same warships to further its attack on Tamil fishermen.

He urged the Centre to immediately scrap the idea, as it would not help fulfill the genuine demands of Sri Lankan Tamils. Even the PMK criticised the Centre's proposal to supply warships to the neighbouring island nation. Its chief S Ramadoss said any such move would further hurt the sentiments of Tamils.