From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 09:00 PM IST

Opposition leaders belonging to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the MDMK Thursday criticise the Tamil Nadu and central governments for ignoring the sufferings of Indian fishermen at the hands of Sri Lankan defence personnel.

CPI national secretary D. Raja demanded a debate in parliament to expose the perfidy of the Sri Lankan defence establishment in attacking Indian fishermen without any provocation.

'We want a parliamentary debate to expose our fishermen's travails at the hands of Sri Lankan Navy around Kachchatheevu that was wrongly ceded to our neighbouring island in the seventies. Our government should demand its return,' he said.

Assailing the centre for short-changing Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils, MDMK general secretary Vaiko called for an immediate halt to the killings of 'innocent Indian fishermen' in the Palk Strait and military aid to the 'Sinhalese chauvinist regime' in Colombo.

'Ministers from Tamil Nadu are occupying vital positions in the central government. Yet they did not lift a little finger to alleviate the sufferings of Tamil fishermen in India and the suffering minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. If it had a sense of belonging, the ruling DMK should have threatened to quit the union cabinet,' said D. Pandian, state secretary of the CPI.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)