Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai on Thursday hit out at the ruling DMK's President and Chief Minister M K Stalin for "shedding crocodile tears" over the arrest of Indian fishermen by Sri Lanka.
Referring to Stalin's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to take up the issue of protection of the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen, with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Annamalai said it brought out the "wrongs" of the former Congress-DMK regime at the Centre.
"I thank Chief Minister Stalin for openly agreeing that only Prime Minister Modi can set right the wrongs of the Congress-DMK alliance (UPA regime)," he said. Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe will be on an official visit to India on July 21.
Accusing Stalin of "shedding crocodile tears" over the arrest of Indian fishermen, Annamalai said the Centre has been extending immediate legal support to apprehended fishermen and ensuring the protection of their "life and property".
During the Congress-led UPA regime in which the DMK was a constituent, the lives of fishermen were not protected. As many as 85 fishermen were killed during the 10-year Congress-DMK coalition rule (2004-14) at the Centre.
"Is Stalin able to point out one such incident during the nine-year rule under Prime Minister Modi," he asked.
On Stalin urging Modi to make all efforts to retrieve Katchatheevu island, Annamalai wondered aloud what authority the ruling DMK had to talk about the matter.
When Katchatheevu island was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, BJP leader Jana Krishnamurthy challenged it in the High Court. The DMK, which was then the state's ruling party was "responsible" for the island getting sliced out of the nation as it did not even submit the requisite documents in the court, the BJP leader alleged.
The DMK, though it had been part of the Congress-led Central government, did not take any resolute steps for the retrieval of the island.
"What locus standi does DMK have to talk about Katchatheevu which it handed on a platter (to Sri Lanka)," Annamalai asked.
Prime Minister Modi, during his years as Gujarat Chief Minister, had strongly condemned in 2009 the Congress and DMK for "turning a blind eye" to the travails of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. During that time, the DMK was part of the Congress-led regime at the Centre, Annamalai pointed out.
Listing the union government's welfare initiatives for Tamils in the island nation, such as building 51,000 houses besides building infrastructure such as roads and improving rail connectivity, he claimed that more than Stalin it was Modi who has a love for the Tamil people. The Modi-led government has been urging Lanka to implement its 13th Constitutional Amendment that devolves powers to Tamil provinces, he said.
While Modi is bringing solutions to the problems "created" during the Congress-DMK regime, the DMK as usual attempted to put its "sticker" on (to claim credit) them, he alleged, and hit out at Tamil Nadu's ruling party for not taking action when it was part of the Congress-led dispensation at the Centre.
