Katchatheevu island row reignited in TN assembly, TVK holds DMK responsible for handover to Sri Lanka
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Katchatheevu island row reignited in TN assembly, TVK holds DMK responsible for handover to Sri Lanka")
Tamil Nadu minister Nirmal Kumar Photograph: (ANI)
The DMK called it a false claim and said the decision was taken by the Congress government of Indira Gandhi without the consent of the state.
The dispute surrounding the 285-acre Katchatheevu island is back into limelight. The 1974 handover of the island to Sri Lanka has ignited a debate in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, between the ruling TVK and the DMK. On Wednesday Tamil Nadu minister Nirmal Kumar accused former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi of allowing the handover of the tiny uninhabited island in the Palk Strait - a stretch of ocean which divides India and Sri Lanka - to Sri Lanka. The DMK called it a false claim and said the decision was taken by the Indira Gandhi government without the consent of the state.
While the move was defended by Congress MLA Tharahai Cuthbert, who claimed that India gained the 25-lakh-acre Wadge Bank in return.
Making the allegations, TVK leader and minister in the current government Nirmal Kumar argued that the handover could have been stopped had the then DMK leaders intervened, like then West Bengal Chief Minister B C Roy, who opposed the proposed transfer of Berubari to then East Pakistan. Roy approached the Supreme Court and successfully stopped the handover, said Kumar.
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“If Kalaignar had wanted to, he could have prevented Katchatheevu from being ceded,” said Kumar.
He also said, “In 1974, when this issue was debated in Parliament, DMK member SS Marisamy asked, saying they were completely unaware of this matter."
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What DMK said?
DMK rejected Kumar's version saying it is a “completely false assertion” being placed on record in the Assembly. DMK leaders argued that the handover was done without the consent of the then Tamil Nadu government under them.
They also said that the move was opposed through resolutions, meetings and public campaigns across the state. Also, the DMK argued that multiple letters regarding the issue were written to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and subsequent prime ministers demanding that Katchatheevu be retrieved and returned to India.
