Vaiko rejects criticism, stands by LTTE

According to him, political parties which had no concern for the cause of Tamils had criticised him for meeting LTTE advisor Balasingham at London. Vaiko said he had only called on the latter on humanitarian grounds as he had just had kidney transplant. As a Tamil, he added, it was his “duty” to see the ailing man. Vaiko also pointed out that the British and Norway Governments had offered assistance to Balasingham because they believed he was the one who could solve the ethnic conflict.

The MDMK leader said he had briefed Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee on November 12 on the meeting, and the latter had enquired if Balasingham’s body had accepted the kidneys.

Vaiko added that Eelam was the only viable option as the Buddhist clergy would never allow any Sri Lankan government to give equal rights to Tamils. Asked if it was not wrong to differ with the NDA’s stand on the issue, he said neither BJP president Bangaru Laxman nor party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu had criticised his meeting with Balasingham. “When the issue comes up in the NDA meeting, I will clarify my stand,” he said. At the same time, Vaiko appreciated the Indian Government’s stand on the matter, saying it had not repeated the mistakes of earlier Congress regimes.

He also said that though the MDMK had its own stand on the ethnic crisis, it had never tried to impose this on the NDA and always abided by the majority decision.