Showdown between BJP and MDMK as Vaiko adamant on celebrating LTTE chief Prabhakaran's birthday

Chennai, Nov 26: There could be another showdown between MDMK founder Vaiko and the Modi led BJP Government at the Centre. Vaiko, a self-confessed supporter of Prabhakaran and his idea of a separate homeland for Tamils, recently had called for grand celebrations of the LTTE founder. 60th birth anniversary of V Prabhakaran falls on November 26.

"Celebratory chants should 'reverberate' the cause of Tamil Ealam on that day", he had said in a statement.

As the LTTE has been outlawed in India since 1992, observing Prabhakaran's birthday as gala affair could put Vaiko on tough wicket. Reports say that he may be arrested for defying law of the land.

Prabhakaran was born into a middle class family in the coastal town of Velvettiturai in Jaffna peninsula on the northern tip of Sri Lanka.

He founded a militant group called Tamil New Tigers in 1972 and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1976, and waged a prolonged war to secede the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan military killed Prabhakaran in May 2009 in a blitzkrieg that also reportedly claimed the lives of thousands of rebels as well as civilians.

Earlier, the BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had urged Home Minister Rajnath Singh to issue a directive to the Tamil Nadu government to ban the move to celebrate birth anniversary of slain chief of LTTE V Prabhakaran, who was responsible for killing of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"These celebrations are being organised by MDMK leader Vaiko. MDMK must be ejected from the NDA and Vaiko should be locked up under the National Security Act," Swamy said in a press release.

The BJP leader said that the directive should be issued under Article 256, which mandated the state to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament and any existing laws which apply in that state. Swamy also wanted the Home Minister to order setting up of a Special Investigation Team under the CBI to prosecute the crime of murder of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor. Meanwhile, Congress has also slammed this move of the Vaiko.

OneIndia News

(with inputs from agencies)