PM Modi: Can’t believe Congress ‘ruthlessly’ handed over key islands to Lanka

PM Modi calls new revelations about Kachattivu island ‘eye-opening’ (File/AFP)

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cited media reports as saying that new facts showed that the Congress party had “ruthlessly” surrendered Kachathiu Island to Sri Lanka.

“Eye-opening and shocking! The new facts reveal how ruthlessly Congress gave up on Kachatiyev. This outraged every Indian and reaffirmed in people’s minds – we can never trust Congress ,” he said while sharing the report.

“Diminishing India’s unity, integrity and interests has been the modus operandi of Congress for 75 years,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that the then Congress government’s decision at the Center was the reason why Tamil Nadu fishermen were caught and imprisoned by the Lankans while they were drifting to an island just 25 kilometers off the state’s coast.

The island belonged to India until 1975, he said. Fishermen from Tamil Nadu would have traveled there earlier, but India’s agreement with Lanka prohibited them from doing so, he added.

It is unfortunate that neither the DMK nor the Congress, except Prime Minister Modi, has raised the issue because he is committed to the country and its people, he said.

The BJP hopes the issue will help the party gain political support in the Dravidian region ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, and more importantly, it concerns neighboring Sri Lanka, where the treatment of Tamils ​​has long been a source of concern for the state. Controversial political issues.

The report is based on an RTI reply received by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai regarding the Indira Gandhi government’s 1974 decision to hand over the Palk Straits territory to the island nation.

The report also quoted the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as saying that he would not hesitate to give up his claim to the island. The issue has been a source of dispute between India and Sri Lanka.

Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Trivedi asked why he remained silent on the issue and said he should tell people that his party and his family were responsible.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)