Anti-Lanka protests: Congress leaders face the 

heat

TNN Mar 31, 2013,

MADURAI: Is the anti-Sri Lanka protests spearheaded by college students across the state acquiring an anti- Congress character?

On Saturday, a march by students in Virudhunagar towards the office of Congress leader and MP from the city, Manick Tagore, ended in a clash between students and Congress cadres. The incident comes close on the heels of a clash between protesting students and Congress workers in Trichy.

Tagore opted to downplay and the event and told TOI that he was not in Virudhunagar. "I have to inquire about the incident," he said, but added that the students who clashed with his supporters were affiliated to political parties. "If all the college students stage a protest, we can assume that it was a protest by students. But if only a handful come, it means they have come not as students but as party workers,'' he said. He blamed the clashes between students and Congressmen on "certain elements who wanted to divert the attention from the real issue".

Saturday's incident happened when a group of students from Virudhunagar Hindu Nadar's Senthikumara Nadar College marched towards the office of Tagore raising slogans. As they neared the office, a group of Congress cadres told them not to come near the office. The students refused to heed and when they closed in on the office, Congress cadres attacked them with pipes, said police.

Police personnel at the spot physically restrained the Congress workers from attacking the students. A few Congressmen and students were detained by police but let off after interrogation. "No complaints were given by the students. So no case has been registered,'' said a police officer. But a case has been registered against the students for unlawful assembly.

This is the second incident where Congress cadres and college students have faced-off since the anti Lanka protests gained momentum across the state. On March 28, Congress workers and students fought a pitched battle in Trichy after the latter damaged banners and billboards belonging to the party. The same day there Congress workers and students were involved in verbal duels in Erode and Karur. On Friday, students in Erode conducted mock funeral rites for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Students in Trichy are planning to stage a protest against Congress once students who were hospitalized after the incident are discharged.

The anti-Lanka protests that started close to the introduction of the US-sponsored resolution on human rights violations against Tamils at the UNHRC in Geneva has over time acquired a distinct anti-Centre, anti-Congress character. Barring Congress and CPM, political parties in Tamil Nadu have adopted a stringent anti-Colombo stand and have blamed New Delhi of being soft on Colombo. DMK sensing the public mood walked out of the UPA government on the Lanka issue. TN Congress leaders like G K Vasan have been making statements that reflect the anti-Lanka sentiment in the state, but students seem to be in no mood to listen.

Centre's stand on Tamil Nadu fishermen issue 'discriminatory': Karunanidhi

March 31, 2013

Chennai: The DMK, which quit the UPA over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, today slammed the Centre for adopting a "discriminatory" approach in protecting fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who have been suffering at the hands of Sri Lankan Navy.

While the Centre initiated series of diplomatic and legal steps when two Italian Marines killed two fishermen from Kerala, the same approach was lacking when Tamil Nadu fishermen were battered by the Island nation's Navy, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said in a letter to his partymen.

Mr Karunanidhi, while focusing on the plight of Tamil fishermen, questioned the Centre: "What has the Indian government got to say over the arrest of 19 Tamil fishermen who are lodged in a Lankan prison and whose remand has now been extended till April 11?"

19 fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested by the Lankan Navy on March 13 for allegedly crossing into its territory and were later remanded to judicial custody in a prison at Anuradhapuram.

The DMK patriarch also sought to know from the Centre on how it would justify the "discrimination" of fishermen from Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

"Is it justifiable to discriminate between fishermen from Kerala and Tamil Nadu? So far 600 Tamil fishermen have been killed by the Sri Lankan Navy. Were there at least one instance, where the Indian government has shown the same interest, approach and promptness in coming to the rescue of Tamil fishermen, as it had shown in the Kerala fishermen - Italian Marines issue?," he stated.

He found fault with the way the state government handled the arrest of five Sri Lankan fishermen and pointed out, "While arrested Tamil fishermen's remands are being extended (in Sri Lanka), those arrested Sinhalese fishermen are being released here in a haste."

Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talking tough in the Parliament to ensure the return of two Italian Marines when Italy had refused to send them back to India, Karunanidhi said the Centre should adopt the same approach in dealing with the Tamil Nadu fishermen issue.