The Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) took to the streets of the national capital on Monday to demonstrate against the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo, and called for India to boycott the conference to show their protest against the war crimes committed on Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The national General Secretary of regional SDPI, Moulana Usman Beig said India should condemn the meet over the atrocities and war crimes committed on Tamils in Sri Lanka.
"SDPI strongly protests that India boycotts the conference and does not participate in it and strongly condemn the criminal Rajapakasha for violating humanity and India should voice our concern," General Secretary of SDPI, Moulana Usman Beig said.
On October 24, expressing regret over a resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly demanding that India should boycott this year's CHOGM, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India, Prasad Kariyawasam said the resolution is based on misinformation, and invited Tamil Nadu leaders to visit his country to assess the situation on ground themselves.
He further said that India's presence is not only important for the Commonwealth meeting, but also for regional development.
"Our External Affairs Minister came to Delhi to invite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally, because, we think India is a very important country, not only for the Commonwealth, but also for the region and for the world. India's presence is important for the Commonwealth meeting and for Sri Lanka, being a friendly neighbour," he added.
Commenting on whether Manmohan Singh should attend this meeting despite resentment from the people of Tamil Nadu, Kariyawasam said CHOGM is not a bilateral event, it is a multilateral meeting, and also expressed the hope of seeing India present in full force.
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"It's a matter for the Indian Prime Minister and the Indian Government to decide. We cannot tell great Indian leaders what do to. These are multi lateral meetings; these are not bilateral visits. Many leaders are coming, and we would like to see our great neighbour India in full force," he added.
Earlier in the day, the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union Government to boycott CHOGM, which would be held in Colombo in November.
The resolution said India should not send even representatives for the meeting being hosted by Sri Lanka. "The Indian Government should also take steps to get Sri Lanka suspended from the CHOGM until the Island nation ensures Tamils get equal rights at par with the Sinhalese," the resolution said.
This resolution, which was moved by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, was hailed by many political parties, including the DMK, the DMDK, the Congress, the CPI and the CPM.