Chennai, April 20: MDMK leader Vaiko Monday said the Indian government was also to blame for the killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka, and described Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Karunanidhi as “the number one traitor to the Tamil race”.

Speaking to reporters here, Vaiko compared the deaths caused by the military offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the holocaust during World War II.

Vaiko accused New Delhi of covertly joining hands with Colombo to pave the way for the current offensive against the LTTE that has left the group struggling to survive in a small strip of coastal land in Mullaitivu district.

Alleging that nearly 2,000 Tamils had been killed this year, he said most of them were innocent civilians.
“(These are) murderous, barbaric attacks … against the Tamils. For this holocaust, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government led by the Congress party is fully responsible.

“(UPA chairperson and Congress president) Sonia Gandhi is solely responsible. They have planned this for all these five years; they have given all logistic support, given military information (to Sri Lanka), satellite information…
“They have destroyed the ships which carried material for the LTTE. The Indian Navy helped the Sri Lankan Navy to destroy these ships. Today, much blood of Tamils has been shed. This is due to the assistance of the Indian government.
“It is a pre-planned, pre-meditated military offensive, engineered and planned by the Indian government. Therefore, for the loss of lives of Tamils, for the loss of every Tamil blood, the Congress will never be forgiven, for posterity.”
Vaiko also blasted Karunanidhi, who on Monday clarified that he still considered LTTE’s elusive chief Velupillai Prabhakaran a terrorist. A day earlier, the DMK chief caused a stir by calling Prabhakaran a friend whose death he would regret.
“Karunanidhi has become the number one traitor to the Tamil race… He has been totally silent. (All these years) he played a drama.
“Had he really put pressure on the UPA government, it would have prevailed upon (Sri Lankan President Mahinda) Rajapaksa (to stop the killings).”
Vaiko warned that there would be a backlash in Tamil Nadu to the unending deaths in Sri Lanka and the international community’s failure to end the killings.
“Because Tamils are dying, there will be a backlash. People’s anger will be there. Therefore, Karunanidhi made the statement (Sunday) that Prabahakaran is his friend.”

New Delhi, Feb 19 : The Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon on Thursday following protests from various parties on different issues.

A large number of MPs trooped into the well of the house as soon as the proceedings began at 11 a.m., forcing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn the house at 11:15 a.m.

While Dalit MPs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were protesting against the SC/ST (Reservation in Post and Services) Bill 2008, MPs of MDMK and PMK rushed to the well of the house protesting the policy of the government over the civil war in Sri Lanka.


The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha during the last session and the government was planning to introduce it in the Lok Sabha.

The speaker tried repeatedly to pacify the agitating members and at one point of time said: "You are insulting the people of the country and wasting public money. You are behaving in a condemnable manner".

Others who joined the protest on various issues also included MPs of Telugu Desam Party from Andhra Pradesh over the Satyam scam. Republican Party of India MP Ramdas Athwale also joined the BJP and BSP protest.

CHENNAI: VCK will not have any truck with Congress from now on, according to an announcement by VCK chief Thirumavalavan on Sunday. Thirumavalavan had been on a fast since January 15, demanding that the Central Government take efforts to stop the war in Sri Lanka. Breaking the fast, he said the Congress 
government at the Centre was ensuring the destruction of Tamils in Sri Lanka by providing arms and personnel to the Sri Lankan government, “We have waited enough for Pranab Mukerjee to go to Sri Lanka. Congress has no respect for the feelings of the 6.5 crore Tamils. Whatever the situation is, we will have no relationship with the Congress ever.”With this announcement, he effectively eliminated the presence of VCK from any alliance in which Congress is a part. It is unclear how it will affect VCK’s relationship with PMK, as Thirumavalavan and PMK chief Dr Ramadoss are known to be close. Thirumavalavan promptly apologised for making the announcement in the presence of Ramadoss, saying that he had not taken into consideration the political compulsions of the PMK chief. Explaining the decision to his party cadre, he said, “Let’s eliminate Congress from Tamil Nadu. The only thing that will get the Congress to listen is elections. Now they have seats in the assembly disproportionate to their strength. VCK is 10 times stronger than Congress. Only dalits and tribals vote for the Congress. Let us make sure they do not win any elections.”Although the Congress was the chief target of his attack he also spoke against the AIADMK, calling both parties anti-Tamil, “Leaders from all parties met me or sent their messages expressing support over the last 4 days. Only the Congress and AIADMK have not come. I ask all political parties to ostracise the Congress and AIADMK, and break all ties with these parties.”“Jayalalithaa has insulted my real feelings for Eelam Tamils by calling this protest a drama conducted by the CM.”“I ask the communist parties and MDMK, who really care about Tamils to snap their ties with the AIADMK. We should all get together and protest,” he said.