MDMK opposes BJP participation in conference in Sri Lanka

CHENNAI: BJP's Tamil Nadu ally, MDMK, today opposed the senior partner's participation in a conference in Sri Lanka, saying it had hurt the Tamils in that country, besides in India and elsewhere.

Referring to BJP's two-member delegation of Muralidhar Rao and Vijay Jolly participating in the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Colombo starting today, MDMK chief Vaiko said it amounted to 'belittling' Tamils.

Vaiko recalled that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had boycotted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo last year following a huge hue and cry in the state.

"BJP's sending of Rao and Jolly is an unforgivable act of betrayal and they should be recalled immediately," he said in a statement.

The conference was an effort by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to 'hoodwink' the world, Vaiko said in an apparent reference to the alleged human rights violations by the Army against civilian Tamils in the final leg of the civil war against the rebel LTTE in 2009.