Rajapakse insults India by not declaring ceasefire: Vaiko

Chennai, Nov 16 (UNI) Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko today said the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's refusal to declare ceasefire was a challenge to India's self respect.

In a statement here, he said Mr Rajapaksa, after calling on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in Delhi had the audacity to say that the Lankan Government would not stop the military offensive till the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was wiped out, that too while being on the Indian soil.

Mr Vaiko said the Lankan President had declined to declare ceasefire, within 48 hours after the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a resolution, calling for ceasefire. This was an affront and a challenge to the self respect of not only the seven crore Tamils, but the 100 crore Indians as well.

He said the military assistance and arms offered by the Indian Government for the last four years had emboldened Mr Rajapaksa to make the statement. In the last four years, India had offered arms, radars and an interest free loan of Rs 2000 crore to the Lankan Government to strengthen its army.

He said India, besides offering arms and radars, had also sent its technocrats to train the Lankan soldiers, besides relaying the Palali airstrip at its own cost. India was fully behind the Lankan troops in their attack against the Tamils, he alleged.

Stating that three lakh Tamils were facing the danger of deaths as the Lankan troops were bombing the Tamil areas, Mr Vaiko wanted to know as why the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi did not press for the resolution adopted at the all party meeting that MPs from Tamil Nadu would resign, if the Lankan Government failed to declare ceasefire within two weeks.

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