‘Jayalalithaa inspired the US squeeze on Lanka’ - July 27, 2011

‘Jayalalithaa inspired the US squeeze on Lanka’

* July 27, 2011
* By M. Gunasekaran
*

The ruling AIADMK is mighty thrilled at the U.S. congressional committee voting to ban aid to Sri Lanka pending ‘accountability’ over atrocities in the final phase of the Eelam war.

Scores of AIADMK seniors, including ministers, have issued big advertisements in Tamil newspapers in Tuesday hailing the American initiative, which they insist was inspired by chief minister Jayalalithaa’s resolutions in the state Assembly demanding that Delhi should impose economic embargo on Lanka.

The US move has come as a major setback to the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime in Sri Lanka, which came under worldwide criticism following the recent TV documentary, Killing Fields of Channel Four of Britain. The video was also telecast in India and created huge revulsion amid the thousands of viewers across the country.

The video caused a fresh bout of anti-Colombo protests in the Tamil Nadu.



Not just the AIADMK lieutenants, even large segments of the Tamil Diaspora across the world are hailing Jayalalithaa’s strong support of the Lankan Tamil cause — particularly on the issue of rehabilitation of the war-displaced people and also bringing to trial the war-criminals in the island. It is alleged that over 40,000 civilians were killed in the last few days of the Eelam war in May 2009.

Diaspora websites are in fact expressing hope that Jayalalithaa would emerge as the ‘Indira Gandhi of the Tamils’ securing for them their Eelam “just as Indira Gandhi liberated Bangladesh”.

Diaspora meetings in several parts of the world have expressed happiness at Jayalalithaa’s initiatives and hoped she would be able to exert pressure on Delhi to shake off its “long-held indifference to the Tamil plight”.

At the same time, DMK president M. Karunanidhi has been fast losing his ground with the Diaspora, with many being upset that he let down the Eelam Tamils in their hour of crisis.

“Even the local pro-Eelam sympathisers are now his bitter critics. They are looking to Jayalalithaa to secure justice for the Tamils”, said Mr Viduthalai Rajendran, general secretary, Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam.