Vaiko warns of a 'Kashmir in south'

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Keywords: Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka, LTTE, MDMK

Chennai: Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko, a staunch supporter of the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has warned India of 'creation of Kashmir in the south', if the Tamils in Sri Lanka suffered and failed to get 'Tamil Eelam'.

"Don't create a Kashmir in the South," Vaiko said at a public meeting in Chennai on Monday night.

The meeting had been organised to pay homage to the 61 school children who had been 'massacred' by Sri Lankan armed forces in Mullaitivu.

Asserting that Tamil Eelam was the only solution to the Tamils' problem in the island, Vaiko said India should not offer any military assistance to the Sri Lankan government as the assistance would be utilised only to kill the Tamils.

"Do not create a Kashmir like situation in the south by giving military assistance to Sri Lanka, which will be turned against the Tamils," he said, adding, "We will not go for violence, but youths are susceptible to extremism."

"If India were to assist Sri Lanka in any way, that could uproot the Tamils and in such an eventuality, an impression will be created in the minds of youths that India is assisting Sri Lanka and acting against the interest of the Tamils," he added.

"This might force the youth to take to terrorism and we will become irrelevant. We should not give room for the creation of a Kashmir-like situation in the south," he warned.

Vaiko also said that he had apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the situation when he met him recently to stop India having any defence pact with Sri Lanka.