Congress MPs mum on war crime charges

CHENNAI: The Congress MPs from TN, who were part of the delegation to Lanka, said that they had insisted on demilitarisation and implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Lankan Constitution during their meeting with Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The MPs were, however, silent on the charges of war crimes against Lanka.Party MPs E M Sudarshana Natchiappan, Manicka Tagore, M Krishnaswamy and N S V Chithan, and the party state unit chief B S Gnanadesikan briefed the media on their return from Lanka on Saturday. Krishnaswamy said that the militarization in the northern province had restricted the normal life of the Tamils living there. “They cannot even go to the temple to offer prayers as the army intercepts them asking them the reason behind their visit to the temple,” he said adding, “even domestic rituals can not be performed without the military’s interference.” “Certainly dreadfulness is prevalent among Tamils because of the constant presence of the military. We took this up with Rajapaksa during our 45-minute meet and he has agreed to look into the issue, Krishnaswamy said.Neither the military nor the police force interfered with the delegation’s trip. Natchiappan said they were allowed to visit camps, which housed internally displaced Tamils.