Sri Lankan Tamil MPs meet CPI MP

A delegation of Tamil MPs from Sri Lanka today met CPI MP D Raja and impressed on him the need for active Indian involvement in hammering out a political solution for ethnic problem in their country.

The delegation of Tamil National Federation (TNF) MPs including Sambandam, Suresh Premachandran and Senadhiraja met Raja in the CPI headquarters here and sought Indian help.

Raja told the delegation that his party would take up the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils both inside and outside Parliament, especially in the matter of relief and rehabilitation of those still living in camps.

The MP, however, wondered why the Indian government was not not raking up the issue of an external probe into the killings of Tamils by the Sri Lankan army, an issue on which UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon has set up a probe committee. New Delhi should take up this issue in fora like the UN and NAM.

He said the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse was opposed to any independent international probe and the Indian government was doing nothing about it.

Raja expressed concern over reported army settlements in the Tamil-dominated areas of Sri Lanka with a view to changing the demographic character there.  Even those living in camps in places like Mulveli have been lodged in tin sheds without basic amenities, he said.