Katchatheevu row: ‘What is the mystery of DMK aligning with Congress,’ PMK asks Stalin

CHENNAI: Alleging that the Congress is the reason for handing over Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka and the grand old party is still justifying its action, PMK founder S Ramadoss asked CM Stalin to give an explanation why he is in alliance with the party, which is the reason for the sufferings of fishermen.

In a statement, the senior leader opined that the handing over of the island by the Indira Gandhi government was an unforgivable betrayal.

"The impacts of the action are felt now also. This was the reason for more than 800 fishermen losing their lives and 6,184 fishermen being detained. Kalaignar (Karunanidhi), who was then chief minister of Tamil Nadu allowed the hand over. He did not take any action to prevent the signing of agreements," he alleged.

Saying that Karunanidhi passed a namesake resolution against the handover, Ramadoss added that the former allowed the handover to avoid graft investigations.

"Moreover, Congress is still justifying the hand over. Congress leader P Chidambaram says that the action was based on goodwill. But DMK is saying that it opposes the handover now. There is a difference of opinion between Congress and the DMK on the issue," he added.

Ramadoss alleged that Congress and DMK are on opposite sides in issues such as the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and the shifting of education to the concurrent list from the state list. "What is the mystery of DMK aligning with Congress? Will MK Stalin explain?" he asked.

In a separate statement, party president Anbumani Ramadoss urged the state government to take steps to expedite the hearing of the case against online gambling in the Supreme Court as an IT employee committed suicide in Chennai due to online gambling.

"Despite bills being passed twice banning online gambling, the Madras High Court brushed aside the bills. The government could not receive a ban order against online gambling," he said.