Updated
Speaking in Tamil Nadu, the leader of India's BJP party, Yashwant Sinha asserted that there was "no stopping" oppressed people rising up for independence.
Sinha said:
“So far, the BJP’s position to resolve the much-prolonged Tamils ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka has been for a negotiated settlement within the territorial Integrity of Sri Lanka,”
"But recent history has shown that the more the rulers of a country decide to suppress an already heavily discriminated section of its people, the more independent minded they become,”
“If people rise there is no stopping,”
The former Indian foreign minister reportedly stated that although the BJP may have advocated for a political solution on the island within a unitary state previously, he argued that an independent state remains a distinct possibility. He added,
“Bangladesh would not have been an independent country now; north and south Sudan would not have been independent countries today”.
Sinha went on to slam Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Centre’s policy towards Sri Lanka, saying,
“India should say it will no more tolerate the killing of our fishermen. If you are a weak government, everyone will take advantage. The present foreign policy is disturbing. The country’s prestige, clout and future are at stake. The UPA government and the Prime Minister may be weak, but the people of India are not weak.”
“Go from mandal to mandal, house to house and tell the people how Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh have been responsible for the genocide in the immediate neighbourhood of north Lanka.”
See the full report from the Deccan Chronicle here.
He also called for India to abstain from attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo later this year, accusing the Rajapaksa regime of having triumphalism as its "guiding principle".
Calling on the Indian Prime Minister to boycott, Sinha asserted that there would be no Commonwealth without India and criticised India's failure to raise Sri Lanka's human rights record with the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) which is due to hold its meeting later this month.
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