India's sovereignty mortgaged to US on nuclear deal: Vaiko

Coimbatore, Aug 31 (UNI) Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko today alleged that India's sovereignty was ''being mortgaged'' to the US by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by inking the civil nuclear deal.

Talking to newspersons here, he alleged that Dr Singh had fallen prey to the American lobby and announced a Committee to review the Hyde Act to buy time from the Left parties' pressure.

Mr Vaiko accused the Congress-led UPA Government of deviating from the non-aligned policy formulated by the late Congress Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Criticising the ''anti-people'' DMK Government in the State, the MDMK leader said the party would hold street meetings at regular intervals to create awareness among the people about price rise, illegal sand quarrying, increase in crime rate and its ''anti-education'' policy.

Mr Vaiko said the Sethu Samudram shipping project should not be stopped at any cost, but at the same time the religious sentiments of any community should not be hurt.

The former Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) detenu said the Act should not be re-introduced to curb terrorism, but instead the Government should solve the socio-economic problems of youth and create employment opportunities for them.

He criticised Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for not raising the issue of creation of Railway Division at Salem with Dr Singh and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in the right earnest. Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, however, frequently met Dr Singh to stop its implementation, he alleged.

UNI