Karunanidhi says he never gave up Katchatheevu islet, slams Jaya

Chennai: Joining issue with his arch rival and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for criticising him on the issue of ceding of Katchatheevu islet to Sri Lanka, DMK president M Karunanidhi today denied he did not act as alleged by her, listing out the various efforts taken by him on the matter. “DMK never accepted the ceding of Katchatheevu and both the party and its led government have never failed to ask (Centre) for its retrieval,” he said. The 90 year-old leader had come under attack from the AIADMK supremo on Thursday for his alleged failure to prevent ceding of the islet to Sri Lanka by the Indira Gandhi government in 1974 when he was the Chief Minister. [caption id=“attachment_970415” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The DMK patriarch said they had protested over the islet being handed over to Sri Lanka. PTI[/caption] Karunanidhi said the day after the agreement was signed between the two countries in June 1974, he had convened an all-party meeting in the secretariat and adopted a resolution on this matter. However, AIADMK declined to sign in favour of that, he said. Further, on the same day he had written to Gandhi, expressing disappointment over her government’s move. Protests were held all over the state to condemn the Centre’s decision and DMK MPs also voiced concern in Parliament, he recalled. He said he had also moved a resolution in the assembly in August that year seeking efforts to revise the agreement. PTI