My wish to visit Tamils in Sri Lanka remains unfulfilled:MK

Chennai, Dec 21 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said that his wish to visit the Tamils in Sri Lanka remained unfulfilled as he was being denied permission by the island government.

Addressing the Sri Lankan Tamil students, who called on him to thank him for facilitating them to take their school final examinations here, Mr Karunanidhi said he could not make it to Sri Lanka on number of occasions, because the previous and present governments had denied him permission.

''Like you come and visit me, I too want to visit you in the island, but it could not materialise,'' the DMK leader regretted, adding, sometimes, the situation in Sri Lanka does not permit him to go there and sometimes, the Indian government advises him against visiting the island.

''Sometimes the island government advised me not to visit, citing the confusions prevailing there and sometimes, the Indian government prevented me from visiting,'' Mr Karunanidhi said.

When he took up the matter with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she had offered to make arrangements for his visit to Lanka, but that time, the situation was more explosive than now and the trip could not come through, he said.

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