Political parties have criticised the Centre for handing over the Varaha, a coast guard vessel, to Sri Lanka as a gift.
A gift from India to Sri Lanka has started a political storm in Tamil Nadu. The state's prominent political parties have launched a scathing attack on the Centre for gifting the Coast Guard vessel 'Varaha' to its neighboring country.
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Centre seems to be helping the Lankan Army which continues trouble the Indian fishermen. I oppose this on behalf of the DMK," said former chief minister and party chief Karunanidhi, who is demanding the ship's recall.
Dr S Ramadoss, the chief of the Pattali Makkal Katchi or PMK, was the first to raise this issue. He said the Centre's actions have always been detrimental to the interests of the state, and slammed the government's decision to help Sri Lanka, which he says, has never been loyal to India.
He said the Lankans had earlier used this ship to "kill the Lankan Tamils", who he said, "would now deploy it to kill Indian fishermen".
Vaiko, the chief of MDMK has called it "a betrayal by the Central Government". He claimed "the vessel is an evidence of the use of Indian Navy to finish off the Sea Tigers - the sea wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE - by Sri Lankan Naval forces".
During the previous regime of the UPA, the DMK had enough parliamentarians to pressure the central government to stop training to Lankan defence personnel in Tamil Nadu. The government, however, continued training them in other states.
The ruling AIADMK has not spoken on this issue yet. The party with its 37 lawmakers in Lok Sabha is perceived to be a friend of the ruling BJP at the Centre.
United Nations estimates that around 45,000 - 100,000 Lankan Tamil civilians may have been killed by the Lankan Army during the final phase of the war against the LTTE six years ago. Many political parties and rights organisations allege Sri Lanka had used weapons supplied by India to kill the Lankan Tamils.