Karunanidhi refuses to reply to Malaysian Minister

Chennai, Nov 29 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today refused to join issue with a Malaysian Minister for the reported remarks made against him for writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the recent attack on ethnic Tamils there.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Karunanidhi said 'I don't want to reply on that.'' He said it was his duty to bring to the notice of the Prime Minister the plight of the Tamils in Malaysia and he had done his duty on behalf of the people of the state.

''Otherwise, I don't want to join issue with the Malaysian Minister'', he added.

Asked about the Malaysian Minister's critical remarks against him, he said he had not made any comment about the Malaysian Government. ''I only wrote to the Prime Minister that he should take steps to protect the interest of Tamils there'', he clarified. Reacting strongly to Mr Karunanidhi's statement expressing concern over the treatment meted out to Tamils in Malaysia, the senior Malaysian Minister said Mr Karunanidhi should worry about his own state which had problems and not about the happenings in Malaysia.

''His place is in Tamil Nadu, not Malaysia. He should worry about his own state. His own state has got problems'', Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department was quoted as saying by the local media.

UNI