Karunanidhi for truce with Vaiko on Tamils' issue

Chennai, Aug 21: Virtually calling for a truce to end the war of words with MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said no purpose would be served by ''fighting among ourselves while remaining united for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.''

Reacting to Mr Vaiko's statement on his clandestine visit to Vavuniya in February 1989 to meet LTTE Leader Prabhakaran, Mr Karunanidhi, intervening on the debate in the Assembly, said, ''While fighting for a common cause, there is no point in fighting among ourselves'' and called on Lankan outfits like LTTE, EPRLF, TELO and EROS to end their fratricidal war.

''Fighting among ourselves will not serve any purpose as we are united in a common cause of fighting for the rights of the Sri Lankan Tamils,'' he added.

The Chief Minister said, ''why we should jump into the fray to fight the battle.'' ''With whom are we fighting. We are fighting against the Sinhalese chauvinists. We are fighting against the Sinhala hegemony. We are fighting to save the Tamils in the Island Nation,'' he added.

''While fighting for protecting the interests of the Tamils, there can be competition on who should save the Tamils. But it is improper to push down those coming forward to save the Tamils'', he said and added that ''if we fight among ourselves, then we will lose the right to tell them to stop indulging in fratricidal wars''.

UNI

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