Jaya, Karunanidhi unite to demand CHOGM boycott

In a rare show of unity, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi on Tuesday sought to put further pressure on Centre to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka.

In a rare show of unity, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi on Tuesday sought to put further pressure on Centre to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka.

If Jayalalithaa got the assembly to pass a unanimous resolution asking the Centre to boycott the meet, Karunanidhi declared, “I am of the firm view that nobody from India should attend the meeting”.

Moving a resolution in the assembly, Jayalalithaa said, “It is sad that the Centre is not respecting the Tamil sentiments on the issue,” condemning the government’s move of sending a delegation headed by external affairs minister Salman Khurshid to the meeting.

The CM said participating in CHOGM would mean that India approved Lanka’s inhuman acts. Tamil groups and political parties in Tamil Nadu hold the government responsible for mass genocide of thousands of innocent Tamils during the final push against LTTE in May 2009. In Tuesday’s resolution, the state said “blame would fall on India for supporting Sri Lankan president to become commonwealth head.”