MK Stalin counters PM over Katchatheevu row, ‘What steps have you taken?’

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his allegations against DMK in the Katchatheevu controversy, questioned whether the central government has taken any steps in the past ten years to reclaim the island from Sri Lanka.

MK Stalin counters Modi

PM Modi, on Sunday, alleged that the Congress government, under former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, "callously gave away" the strategic Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka and accused the party of "weakening" the country's integrity and interests. A day later, he said, new details "have unmasked DMK’s double standards totally" and claimed that MK Stalin’s party has done "NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s interests”.

In response, the DMK chief questioned PM Modi and mentioned that he had demanded the Prime Minister to retrieve the island. He also asked whether PM Modi had made any demands in this regard when he visited the head of the Sri Lankan government.

"When the BJP came to power, what did it say in the SC regarding Katchatheevu? They said that we would have to engage in a battle with Sri Lanka if we wanted to get the island back. In the last ten years, how many times has Modi travelled to Sri Lanka? Did he ever demand from them that Katchatheevu should be returned to us? When he met the head of the state of Sri Lanka, did he tell them that Katchatheevu belongs to India? He didn’t mention Katchatheevu on all those occasions," Stalin said.

"The PM who remembers very clearly the events that occurred during the time of Nehru and Indira Gandhi, I want to ask him if he remembers something that happened just two years ago. When he came for an event in Chennai, I presented several demands, and one of the first demands I made was to retrieve Katchatheevu. Do you recall this? Did you even read the memorandum I gave?" the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister added.

He also stated that raking up the Katchatheevu issue has now backfired on the BJP. “This issue has turned against them. They put their hands on the beehive, and now they are trying to escape from it,” he mentioned.

Stalin also claimed that the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, when he was the foreign secretary, in an RTI reply in 2015 claimed Katchatheevu is not a part of India and the party is bringing up the matter due to election.

He also asked the Prime Minister who is “crying over Katchatheevu now” had ever said a word of condemnation against Sri Lanka for “harassing and attacking” fishermen from India.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused DMK of spreading a false campaign on Katchatheevu and for making "irresponsible" statements on the issue. She said the late M Karunanidhi, who was DMK president and Tamil Nadu chief minister at the time in the 1970s, was aware of the then-ruling Congress's move but did not object, she said.