K'thivu ceded to Sri Lanka not during DMK rule-Stalin

Katchathivu was ceded to Sri Lanka during the emergency and not when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) was in power, M.K. Stalin, Treasurer of the party, said on Friday.

Reacting to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's charge at her election meeting in Aruppukottai that it was the DMK that gave up the right over Katchathivu, Stalin, who was campaigning in Madurai, said the party always stood for the rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen.

He said Jayalalithaa's allegation was a blatant lie.

Katchathivu was a national issue and not a State issue. The agreement ceding Katchathivu was signed during the emergency and the party had passed a resolution in the Assembly when it came to power in 2006 for the retrieval of the island, he said. Criticising Jayalalithaa for not meeting the people to discuss their issues in the last five years, Stalin said that now elected members of any legislative body and officials were required to go to the people.

-The Hindu