Tamil Nadu MPs to call on Rajapaksa

NEW DELHI /CHENNAI - A lawmakers’ delegation from Tamil Nadu will call on visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa here on Wednesday.

Led by former Union Minister T R Baalu, the delegation will comprise all MPs of the Dravida Munnetra Kazagam and senior Congress leaders from the state.

Most of lawmakers were part of a ten-member delegation that went to Sri Lanka in October 2009.

The delegation is expected to urge President Rajapaksa to take steps for the early resettlement of over 80,000 Tamils displaced during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).

Baalu said the delegation would also discuss a political solution to the ethnic issue, which the Sri Lankan Government has promised after the end of the 30-year-long civil war.

President Rajapaksa is visiting India for the first time after his victory in elections held in January this year.

The issue of rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced Tamils will figure prominently on his agenda with Indian leaders.

Some Tamil groups have accused Rajapaksa of “killing minority Tamils.”

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had written to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, requesting him to take up the Sri Lankan Tamils issue with President Rajapaksa during his three-day visit.

Karunanidhi pointed out that nearly 80,000 Tamils were still living in transit camps, awaiting rehabilitation. (ANI)