PM Modi's statement urging Tamils in Lanka to be patient is 'unwarranted': V Narayanaswamy

Senior Congress leader and former union minister V. Narayanasamy on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement asking Tamils in Sri Lanka to be 'patient' with the government there was 'unwarranted', and added that the latter should instead ask Colombo to act against those responsible for killing innocent Tamils during the civil war in that island nation.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Sri Lanka, he was given warm welcome by the Sri Lankan government. There the Prime Minister spoke to the Tamil leaders and said that you have to tolerate the Sri Lankan government, which is unwarranted. .......When Rajapaksha was the president, there was war between Sri Lankan army and LTTE in which more than 50 - 60, 000 innocent Tamil people were killed,", Narayanasamy told ANI.

"When UPA was in power, we had sought an inquiry into the matter against those responsible for massacre of Tamils in Sri Lanka. Prime Minister did not speak on that," he added.

The Member of Parliament from Pudducherry further said that Prime Minister Modi's Sri Lanka visit is not going to benefit India, Tamils in Sri Lanka or the fishermen.

"On fishermen issue also, the prime minister was not able to resolve the issue. The Sri Lankan president did not speak anything on that. As a whole, the Prime Minister's visit is not going to benefit India, is not going to benefit Sri Lankan Tamils and also our fishermen community.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Sri Lanka visit, he met senior leaders of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) , the main party representing the island's northern Tamils in Colombo on Friday.