After identifying the venue for holding the Tamil Eelam Supporters’ Conference (TESO) in Villupuram on August 5, the DMK has begun to prepare the ground for the event. Talking to reporters here, DMK president M. Karunanidhi, who is also the chairman of the TESO, said the venue was being got ready for the meet.
He said secretaries of the reception committee were looking after the work.
The reception committee headed by DMK’s treasurer M.K. Stalin comprises five secretaries – former DMK minister K. Ponmudi, Dravidar Kazhagam general secretary Kali Poonguntran, Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi general secretary Ravikumar and DMK functionaries K.S. Radhakrishnan and advocate H.M. Jinnah.
“We want to hold the conference on the lines of the one held in Madurai last time in 1986. Besides inviting national leaders, we are planning to bring human rights activists from across the world and international leaders who are supporting the Tamil Eelam cause,” said one of the secretaries.
Another secretary said though many organisations in Tamil Nadu had been raising their voice in favour of a separate Tamil Eelam, only a major party like the DMK could mobilise effective support and make an impact through the conference.
“There could be some criticism against the DMK vis-à-vis its role during the last leg of the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka. But at this juncture, the kind of campaign required in support of Sri Lankan Tamils can be done only a party like the DMK,” he said.
When a question was posed to him on reports that Sinhalese were being settled in Tamil areas in large numbers, Mr. Karunanidhi said the TESO conference would discuss all these issues in detail.
On the continuing arrests of former DMK ministers and senior functionaries in connection with some case or the other, Mr Karunanidhi said the party’s general council or executive council would soon meet and take a decision on how to deal with this.
Special Correspondent
The Hindu