Czech model not relevant in Sri Lankan situation: BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JUNE 6. While expressing strong opposition to any division of Sri Lanka, the BJP today dismissed the Czechoslovakian model of separation suggested by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, as not relevant in the case of the island nation.

``The situation is entirely different in Sri Lanka,'' the BJP vice-president, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthy, told reporters. The creation of the new states of Czech and Slovakia was done on the basis of consent, not confrontation. Also, the decision on the division of Czechoslovakia was taken without third-party intervention, and carried out in peace, not in war.

Mr. Karunanidhi, he said, had talked of the Czech model during a public meeting organised as part of his birthday celebrations. The BJP would rather go by the statements he made on the floor of the legislature. The Czech-type solution was his personal view, though it carried the weight of that of the leader of the DMK.

But when it was pointed out that Mr. Karunanidhi had stated in the legislature that he would be happy if Sri Lankan Tamils won a separate Eelam, the BJP leader said in that case, Mr. Karunanidhi should have taken up the issue with the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, in New Delhi. The Chief Minister was free to express his views to the Prime Minister. But, after the meeting with Mr. Vajpayee, the Chief Minister had actually gone on record that he endorsed the Centre's line on Sri Lanka.

However, Mr. Krishnamurthy did not agree that the Chief Minister was ``playing a double-game'' and speaking in different voices in Delhi and in Tamil Nadu. Mr. Karunanidhi, he said, was a seasoned leader and he represented a State which had interests in the Sri Lankan matter.

Mr. Krishnamurthy denied that the constituents of the ruling National Democratic Alliance differed on the Centre's handling of issues arising out of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The allies were free to have their own views. Problems would arise only if they disagreed with the Centre's line.

On the PMK founder, Dr. S. Ramadoss, equating the Sri Lankan crisis with the fight for independence of Bangladesh, the BJP leader said there was no link between the two situations. As for the views of the MDMK leader, Mr. Vaiko, on Sri Lanka, he said Mr. Vaiko had at first opposed the extension of the ban on the LTTE, but supported it once the Centre took a decision.

At the same time, Mr. Krishnamurthy said the allies could have avoided making statements which gave scope for different interpretations. Agreeing that the coordination committee was the right forum for the allies to air their views, he said: ``Old habits die hard.''

Asked how India could offer to mediate between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE when the latter was banned in India, he said the ban pertained only to India. Also, India was offering to mediate not to help the LTTE chief, Mr. V. Prabhakaran, who was a proclaimed offender in India, but to help the Sri Lankan Tamils. Moreover, the LTTE was not the sole representative of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, and there were other Tamil groups.

The BJP not only wanted the protection of the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, it also wanted equal rights and opportunities to the Tamils there, he said.

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Section  : National
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