DMK refuses to back down, seeks resolution in Parliament - Times of India

CHENNAI: Congress's ties with DMK were precariously poised on Monday with M Karunanidhi keeping up pressure on the government to push for a resolution against Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council far harder than the UPA would wish to in view of the country's foreign policy imperatives. At a marathon two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Congress representatives and members of the central Cabinet -- finance minister P Chidambaram, defence minister A K Antony and health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad -- Karunanidhi not just stuck to his guns to work for a resolution censuring the Rajapaksa government for alleged genocide and war crimes against Tamils in Sri Lanka, he also demanded the passing of a resolution in Parliament along the lines of what the US had originally drafted for UNHRC. According to sources, the veteran politician was not impressed when the central ministers told him that India's geostrategic imperatives forbade it from supporting a resolution aimed at licencing intervention in Sri Lanka's internal affairs, and made it plain that he would not settle for anything that did not satisfy his terms. "If whatever we want happens, then it means it has eased the pressure," he told reporters when asked about the prospect of a de-escalation of tensions. "I have told them these amendments should be adopted through a resolution in P arliament. They assured me they would do the needful," he added. UPA government is wary of supporting the draft prepared by the US in during the vote, expected on March 21, in UNHRC on Sri Lanka, because it considers to be too "intrusive", at odds with the country's consistent stand against outside intervention in the internal affairs of countries and fraught with the risk of being used as a precedent to harass India over J&K. The government was hoping that Sri Lanka's negotiations with the US would result in the dilution of the draft prepared by the former, producing something that India could have lived with. But the window seemed to shrink, with Karunanidhi telling the three Union ministers that India should move a resolution along the lines of what the US had originally proposed. He refused to budge from his stand when his visitors from Delhi that a resolution that strong might not fly. "You should move independent of what happens to it," the Dravid patriarch is learnt to have insisted. DMK sources said the Parliament resolution would be one way of ensuring that the UPA takes forward its demand for a firm stand against Lanka. On whether the discussions with the team had eased the strain between the Congress and DMK on his threat to pull out of the government, Karunanidhi did not repeat his threat to withdraw support to UPA or, for that matter, even pull out his ministers in the event of non-compliance. However, he made it clear that he would accept a settlement only at his terms. DMK sources said they knew full well that their demand was "unrealistic", but would not compromise on it. His stubborn defiance strengthened Congress's estimate that the DMK was ready to go to any extent. Emerging from the meeting, Azad told reporters that they had discussed the contents of Karunanidhi's letter to the PM and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday, seeking tougher amendments to the US resolution. "We have discussed in detail the contents of the letter. We will report to the prime minister," Azad said. However, sources said he as well as Antony confided in their colleagues that they had failed to persuade DMK chief to lower his ante. DMK sources quoting Stalin confirmed that they were ready for any eventuality. While the DMK has explained its hardline stance by citing "sentiments" in Tamil Nadu, the party is driven by clear-eyed political considerations, reckoning that the "sacrifice" of power at Centre for the sake of fellow Tamils will play well for them at the hustings. Widespread anti-Lanka protests on Monday which brought out the emotive pull of the "genocide" allegation, must have reinforced the calculation of a party which had seemed adrift after its defeat at the hands of arch rival Jayalalitha. In fact, Jayalalitha on Monday only contributed to DMK's compulsion not to relent on its demand by writing to The PM to ask for "strong, historic and courageous stance" against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC. The UPA team sought to defuse the tension between the allies by pointing out the constraints posed by the need to maintain ties with India's neighbour. DMK chief, however, told the media that he believed that the team had given him an assurance that the resolution would be passed in Parliament. He said he had told the three Union ministers that a credible, international, independent investigation commission needs to be constituted to probe into alleged war crimes by Sri Lanka. "I categorically said the Sri Lankan government has committed atrocities against Tamils and I wanted it to be declared as war crimes and genocide," he said. The ruling AIADMK, has also urged the Centre to not just support the US-sponsored draft resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC in its present form, but strengthen it further through suitable amendments that would make it unambiguous in intent and effective in implementation. via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFa4tp9ndehKEtg4kOAOr-N0z6P6A&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/DMK-refuses-to-back-down-seeks-resolution-in-Parliament/articleshow/19054845.cms

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 2953939