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New Delhi, March 19: The BJP said it would “wait-and-watch” before firming up its stand on a proposed resolution the Centre plans to move against Sri Lanka in Parliament in deference to the DMK’s wish.
“Let us see what the government brings to the table,” said BJP’s chief spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Earlier in the day, when DMK chief M. Karunanidhi flagged the demand for a parliamentary resolution, the BJP’s reflex was to reject the idea.
A leader said: “We are against moving a country-specific resolution. What if Pakistan adopts a resolution in its National Assembly, demanding an independent probe in Kashmir? We have the greatest concern and sympathy for the Tamils of Sri Lanka. We feel that justice should be done, they should be empowered and the cases of right violations must be looked into. But these are within their government’s mandate. We can’t be dictating terms to Colombo.”
The leader recalled that when Pakistan’s National Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Afzal Guru’s hanging, the Indian Parliament in one voice condemned the “intervention” in an “internal matter of a sovereign country”.
Like the Congress, the BJP too was inclined to looking at the Tamil-Sinhala fault-lines on a larger canvas, taking into account the factors like Lanka’s historical relations with India, its strategic location and “most importantly”, a source said, China’s growing footprints on the island.
Although BJP sources noted that the AIADMK too had reacted strongly to the Tamil issue, when it came to the crunch, they claimed Jayalalithaa would “place the nation above partisan considerations”.
The BJP nursed the hope from Jayalalithaa because she was high on its radar as a potential ally in 2014.
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