AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa on Tuesday alleged that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's remarks on slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran was an open acknowledgement that he condoned the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and asked the Congress to realise the "true mindset" of its alliance partner.
"Karunanidhi faults me for piloting a resolution in the Assembly urging Sri Lankan Government to arrest Prabhakaran and hand him over to India to face trial in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case. I am not surprised," she said.
Jayalalithaa's hard-hitting statement came in response to Karunanidhi's charge that she was instrumental in Tamil Nadu Government passing a resolution demanding a ban on the LTTE and extradition of Prabhakaran to face trial in India. She alleged the Jain Commission, which probed the conspiracy angle of Rajiv Gandhi assassination, had indicted Karunanidhi for his role in "facilitating Rajiv Gandhi killers".
"Karunanidhi's recent statement is an open acknowledgement of the fact that he condoned the killing of Rajiv Gandhi and is still upset over my demand for Prabhakaran's extradition," she said. "It is now for his (Karunanidhi's) friends in Congress party to draw conclusions on their alliance partner s true mindset," the former chief minister said .
Jayalalithaa said she was amused by Karunanidhi's latest "fulminations" in reaction to her statement that he should be indicted as "a war criminal" for his role in causing what she alleged "wanton killing of more than 50,000 innocent, unarmed Sri Lankan Tamil civilians", when they came out of the safety of their bunkers believing that the war had come to an end.
"His statement is a typical attempt to obfuscate issues to confuse the people. But, in the process, he reveals the perverted nature of his thought processes," she charged.
"Karunanidhi also faults me for having passed another Assembly resolution that no member of the 'banned LTTE should be allowed to gain entry into India'. It is not in my nature to hobnob with or be soft on elements from banned organisations," she said.
Admitting that she had stated that some civilian casualties were inevitable during war, she said Karunanidhi deliberately chose to mix up civilian fatalities caused during war with the alleged "mass killing" of civilians using banned weapons. PTI
