25 March 2021 06:37 pm
Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Thursday criticised the government over India's decision to abstain from voting on UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution against Sri Lanka and called it a 'big betrayal of Tamils and Tamilians'.
Taking to Twitter, Kamal Haasan wrote the message in Tamil which when loosely translated in English reads: "Indian representation abstaining from voting at UN Human Rights Council on 'war crimes in Sri Lanka is a big betrayal showed by the Centre to the Tamils and Tamilians.", the India today reported.
Earlier, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko had also condemned India’s abstention from the UNHRC vote on the resolution promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, terming it a “betrayal” of Sri Lankan Tamils.
“What happened in Sri Lanka was not a civil war but a genocide. 1.37 lakh Sri Lankan Tamils were murdered. Schools and hospitals were bombed. In 2009, the Sri Lankan government had starved the Tamils to death. The international society had failed to intervene to end the sufferings of the Tamils in Lanka. Six countries - Britain, Germany, Canada, North Macedonia, Mantinero, Malavi - had passed a resolution to inquire into the war deaths in the UN human rights council," MDMK chief Vaiko said in a statement.
"Four days back, Sri Lankan external affairs secretary Jayanath Kolambakey said that India would support Sri Lanka in this issue and just like his statement, the Indian government’s representation has walked out from the voting session on this issue," he added.
"This is a complete betrayal by the Indian government of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Only because of elections in Tamil Nadu, the Indian government walked out of the voting, otherwise, they would have voted in favour of Sri Lanka. I condemn the manner in which the government of India has conducted itself," Vaiko said.