Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran reiterated that accountability for the mass atrocities committed in 2009 cannot be traded off for politics, in remarks made in Colombo earlier this week.

Speaking at the southern capital Justice Wigneswaran responded to questions on accountability by stating it was a “legal question”.

“Are we going to have a proper legal machinery to look into the wrongs that have been committed and take necessary steps with regard to that?” he said. “Or are we going to make it into a political thing in order to trade it off?”

“Whether it is Tamils saying it or somebody else saying it is not the important thing - these are two different things. There is a political question to be looked in to.”

The chief minister went on to call for the victims of the massacres to be taken into consideration.

“What about the people who have lost their lives?” he said. “ Who have gone through so much immense hardship at the time when these things happened in Mullaiviakkal. Are we going to forget about all of them? At least let them have the benefit of this being tried out by an international tribunal or forum and come to some decision.”

Polls opened this morning in Tamil Nadu, as the final round of state assembly elections began in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

The election sees arch rivals, DMK chief, Karunanidhi and the current chief minister, J Jayalalitha pitted against each other once again, however, the election this year is to be a multipolar contest with a number of smaller parties positioned to play a decisive role.

The elections take place amid deep controversy however, after over 100 crores of cash was found. Voting in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur has been cancelled due to reports of voter bribery.

Votes will be counted on May 19th.