Jayalalitha should know that Tamils in Sri Lanka are better off than those in Tamil Nadu – Minister Basil

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to stop worrying about Sri Lankan Tamils since they enjoy far better living conditions than those living in her state. The Minister out the absurdity in Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s much repeated concerns as regards the Tamil people here, whereas the vast majority of her people lived in abject poverty.

The Minister made these comments to a Tamil Nadu journalist him at the media centre at the BMICH.

The minister said that Sri Lankan Tamils are economically strong and experiencing post-war developments, therefore Tamil Nadu politicians should look after their own. The minister challenged the media to compare the situation in the Northern Province and that of Tami Nadu.

Having pointed out that the people had been provided with water, electricity and housing, he urged the media to visit Jaffna to see the ground situation for themselves. The Minister said the people in Sri Lanka have  the freedom to protest in Jaffna or any other part of the country. Recalling recent attack on Sri Lankan refugees living in Tamil Nadu, the minister said the media should visit both the southern Indian state as well as the Northern part of Sri Lanka to find the realities of the ground situation.

The Minister stressed that whatever the media said about Sri Lanka, the masses knew they were safe today, but some people couldn’t stomach Sri Lanka’s victory over LTTE terrorism. The Minister emphasized that India too, benefited from the eradication of the LTTE in May 2009. He said the LTTE posed an immense threat to India, and therefore the destruction of the LTTE was nothing but a necessity. We had the solid backing of many countries, including India and New Delhi knew what was happening. Tamil Nadu too, was aware of the campaign against the LTTE. The war was brought to an end a few days before parliamentary elections in India.

The Minister said that the ongoing Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) would never have been a reality as long as the LTTE retained a conventional military capability. He said a gathering of over 50 heads of state or their representatives in Colombo was unthinkable a few years ago. The Minister recalled that India positioning warships off Colombo during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 2008.(niz).

10:07 PM