Jaya warns mass agitation if Centre doesn’t act to stop rights violations in Sri Lanka

By Gopal Ethiraj, Chennai

CHENNAI, 22 September (asiantribune.com): The Opposition All India Anna DMK in Tamil Nadu today threatened to launch a mass agitation if the Centre did not act immediately on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.

AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa said in a statement here the TV visuals on the brutal execution of Tamils by the Lankan military personnel, shown by some channels, were disturbing. The footages were reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera.

The visuals showed young Tamils stripped naked and blindfolded with their hands and feet bound, kicked and shot through the back of their head by uniformed military personnel. ''The gruesome footage reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army,'' she noted

Though these visuals have been appearing on Indian TV and press, neither the Indian Government nor the State Government lodged a protest with the Sri Lankan Government, she said.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said the AIADMK was a strong votary against terrorism and a vocal critic of LTTE. Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, “executing them summarily without a trial was barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilised norms.”

''It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war,'' she added.

The AIADMK did not expect the ruling DMK to protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamils in Sri Lanka. ''but we expect New Delhi to ensure the life and dignity of the hapless civilian Tamil population of Sri Lanka languishing in various refugee camps in abominable conditions,'' she added.

''If the Indian Government does not act immediately, the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka,'' she warned.