Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko Gopalaswamy has urged for support from the Indian Government to maintain diplomacy and protect the interests of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka, as he called for protests ahead of newly appointed Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's visit to India.
In a statement released earlier today, he claims Sri Lanka’s new president has ‘sparked war fear’ among Tamils. Vaiko, who has unequivocally voiced his support for the Tamils in Sri Lanka previously, stressed Rajapaksa’s orders to patrol streets of the Tamil majority areas of North and East Sri Lanka with armed troops, is one that compromises the welfare of Tamils.
Alleged war criminal Rajapaksa was criticised by Vaiko for the tens of thousands of Tamils that were killed or went missing during the concluding stages of the war. Vaiko believes the Indian government is responsible for protecting the wellbeing of Sri Lanka’s Tamils.
In an act of solidarity, Vaiko expressed that he will be preparing a black flag protest on Thursday with party supporters in New Delhi ahead of President Rajapaksa’s official visit on Friday. This will be Rajapaksa’s first overseas trip as Sri Lanka’s president.