Sri Lanka: Former president Rajapaksa appointed as PM; Tamils in island nation raise safety concerns

Chennai: Edappadi K Palaniswami, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, along with other Tamil leaders across the world, has condemned the appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Lankan President was appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, when President Maithripala Sirisena withdrew his support from Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government. 

Parties such as the DMK, MDMK, CPI, and CPM in Tamil Nadu have requested the Centre to interfere and assure the safety of Tamils in Sri Lanka and have asked the central government not to turn a blind eye on the developments of the neighbouring country. 

Palaniswami asserted that his government would be following Jayalalithaa’s principle that Rajapaksa should be announced as a war criminal and put to trial at the International Court of Justice for the massacre of innocent Tamils. 

DMK president MK Stalin stated that apart from killing innocent Tamils by the end of Eelam war in 2009, Rajapaksa is also allegedly responsible for the attack on Tamil fishermen. He added that it is important for Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe to come to Delhi and discuss the same other Indian leaders. 

Vaiko, MDMK chief, asserted that the combination of Sirisena and Rajapaksa is a cause of concern for Tamils and also called for an immediate intervention from the Centre.

Despite criticism pouring in from across the country, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy hailed Rajapaksa’s assignment. “I am happy because he is a staunch nationalist. He will not sacrifice sovereignty even one bit for any country or terrorist group. India would benefit from good relations with him,” he said. 

Tamils in Europe, US, and East Asia are expressing their disappointment and shock on microblogging platform Twitter on Rajapaksa returning back to power.  

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