Chennai: On the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, she recalled a resolution passed by the state assembly demanding that India sponsor a resolution in the United Nations condemning the genocide in Sri Lanka and to hold to account all those responsible for the war crimes, so as to render justice to the Tamils.
In her memorandum, Ms Jayalalithaa said she had written 41 times in the last three years to the then Prime Minister on the 76 incidents of apprehension and 67 incidents of attacks on or harassment of TN fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.
“These incidents have caused great unrest amongst the fishermen community in Tamil Nadu. Such incidents are a national issue as any attack on an innocent Indian is an attack on India. But the previous government did not take up the matter forcefully,” she told Mr Modi.
She also asked him to take all efforts to protect the traditional fishing rights of Indian (Tamil Nadu) fishermen in the Palk Bay area and to ensure their safety and security, besides retrieving Katchatheevu islands gifted to Sri Lanka (during the days of Indira Gandhi as PM).
Ms Jayalalithaa also demanded that the 15 per cent unallocated power share totaling 450 MW in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant units- I and II should be allotted to the state.
She demanded that the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation be given the Digital Addressable System (DAS) licence, which was still pending with the ministry of information and broadcasting.
“The deliberate non-issuance of DAS licence to the state government owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation by the previous UPA government is only to facilitate particular private business interests. Hence, the issue of the DAS licence to TACTV needs to be expedited by the government of India,” she said.
The chief minister also demanded that Tamil be made an official language of India and also to make it the language used in the high court. “Tamil Nadu strongly urges the Centre that all the languages included in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution be declared as official languages of India,” she said.
