After calling LTTE chief Prabhakaran his good friend, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Monday flip-flopped from his stand, saying India could not forgive the LTTE for assassinating Rajiv Gandhi.
Apparently under pressure from an embarrassed Congress, the Tamil Nadu CM told CNN-IBN that the LTTE did not start of as a terrorist outfit but became one over time and that “one cannot forget that it is behind Rajiv Gandhi's assassination”.
However, earlier in an interview to a private news channel, Karunanidhi said Prabhakaran was his friend and that he would regret it if the LTTE chief was killed.
“Is Prabhakaran a terrorist? No, I don’t see it that way. Prabhakaran is my good friend. I am not a terrorist. I will deeply regret it if Prabhakaran is killed. I will regret it. I will say it happened because of a lack of unity among the Tamil groups in Sri Lanka".
“Some people in Prabhakaran's group might be involved in terrorism. But that is not Prabhakaran's fault,” he added.
Karunanidhi’s statement came on a day when Congress reiterated that it considered LTTE a terrorist outfit.
“As far as Indian Government is concerned, LTTE is a terrorist organisation and Prabhakaran is a terrorist. The Government and Congress party consider LTTE to be responsible for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. We would expect Lanka to hand Prabhakaran over to us. Karunanidhi's remarks saying "Prabhakaran is not a terrorist" are his personal.
Apparently under pressure from an embarrassed Congress, the Tamil Nadu CM told CNN-IBN that the LTTE did not start of as a terrorist outfit but became one over time and that “one cannot forget that it is behind Rajiv Gandhi's assassination”.
However, earlier in an interview to a private news channel, Karunanidhi said Prabhakaran was his friend and that he would regret it if the LTTE chief was killed.
“Is Prabhakaran a terrorist? No, I don’t see it that way. Prabhakaran is my good friend. I am not a terrorist. I will deeply regret it if Prabhakaran is killed. I will regret it. I will say it happened because of a lack of unity among the Tamil groups in Sri Lanka".
“Some people in Prabhakaran's group might be involved in terrorism. But that is not Prabhakaran's fault,” he added.
Karunanidhi’s statement came on a day when Congress reiterated that it considered LTTE a terrorist outfit.
“As far as Indian Government is concerned, LTTE is a terrorist organisation and Prabhakaran is a terrorist. The Government and Congress party consider LTTE to be responsible for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. We would expect Lanka to hand Prabhakaran over to us. Karunanidhi's remarks saying "Prabhakaran is not a terrorist" are his personal.
Source: IBNLive
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