Vaiko meets Rajnath over invitation to Rajapaksa

MDMK leader Vaiko Friday met BJP president Rajnath Singh and expressed his dissatisfaction over the invitation extended to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for prime minister-elect Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.

"When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister he did not invite the Sri Lankan president for the swearing-in ceremony. Why is he being invited now?" Vaiko told the media here after the meeting.

Vaiko, who is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, described Rajapaksa as a "butcher of Tamils" and accused him of committing "genocide of thousands of Tamil women, children and unarmed people".

"It will be the saddest day for more than a million people in Tamil Nadu and crores of Tamils all over the world when Rajapaksa comes to India," he said.

Heads of government of all eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, Sri Lanka included, have been invited to attend Monday's swearing-in ceremony of Modi.