Chennai, September 27: Tamil Nadu Government’s decision to hold the 9th World Tamil Conference in Coimbatore next year is snowballing into a major political controversy with AIADMK outrightly rejecting the move to hold such a meet and other opposition parties questioning its timing citing the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa had sought to know from the Government whether it has got the backing of International Association of Tamil Research (ITAR), saying the organisation can alone conduct such conferences.
She also asked the Government what was the need for the conference when Tamils all over the world were in a “state of distress”.
Tamils in Sri Lanka, with the second largest population of Tamils, next to India, were languishing in refugee camps, with their right for self- determination ‘crushed’ by the Lankan government, she had said.
She claimed that the event, which will be held in the state in January after a gap of 14 years, had no sanction from IATR, which alone could conduct such conferences.
Sharply reacting to her remarks, senior DMK leader Arcot N Veeraswamy said Tamils all over the world had supported the government for its decision.
He said Jayalalithaa was “pretending” to support the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils, when she herself had said it was natural for some civilians being killed in a battle.
Jayalalithaa said the IATR had organised the past eight world conferences, including the one in Thanjavur in 1995, which her government had only “hosted” it.
–PTI