Chennai: As AIADMK members continued to attack DMK chief M. Karunanidhi for the second consecutive day on the massacre of Sri Lankan Tamils in 2009, deputy Op-position leader K. Duraimurugan on Tuesday challenged the AIADMK for a debate on the issue on the floor of the House.
Duraimurugan, intervening during the speech of AIADMK member Vetrivel, objected to blaming Karunanidhi for the Tamils massacre and said, “We are ready for a debate on the Mullivaikkal massacre. Is the AIADMK ready for such a debate?” The DMK members who were on their feet demanded that Vetrivel confine himself to Governor’s address.
At this juncture, leader of the House, O. Panneerselvam defended AIADMK members saying Vetrivel was speaking on the Governor’s address. He also read the relevant portion from the Governor’s speech on the Lankan issue demanding that those who were responsible for the ‘genocide of Lankan Tamils’ should be brought to book.
Earlier, the House was plunged into commotion, right from the start, as Vetrivel started with criticism on DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin’s ‘Namakku Naamey’ campaign. The AIADMK member said the entire show was arranged with DMK members enacting different roles of farmers, bus conductors and workers.
The DMK members furiously shouted at Vetrivel and asked Speaker P. Dhanapal to restrict the member to Governor’s address. Vetrivel immediately moved on to the Lankan Tamils issue and accused the DMK leader of failure to stop the killings of Tamils. DMK members who got up, recalled the AIADMK government’s resolution calling for extradition of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabharakan.
