India's abstention from voting on the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka has drawn flak from Tamil Nadu political parties.
While most of them including DMK have welcomed a majority of countries adopting the resolution, they have, however, been critical of UPA government's stand in not voting in its favour, with Congress veteran and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram opining that India should have supported it.
Expressing his 'personal opinion', he said India should have voted in favour of the resolution, irrespective of whether it was strong or not, since 23 countries had supported the US-backed initiative.
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Chidambaram said the decision must have been taken by officials in External Affairs Ministry.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi flayed India's stand, saying its 'inhumane' decision has left the Tamils, both domestic and diaspora, in disappointment and regret.
Referring to India's explanation that the resolution at the UN Human Rights Council imposed an "intrusive approach" besides undermining Sri Lanka's sovereignty, he said this was "strongly condemnable" and that even Congressmen in Tamil Nadu will not accept this.
If national sovereignty was an issue, how could former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru 'intervene' in the racism issue in South Africa or his daughter Indira Gandhi help Bangladeshi leader Mujibur Rehman in that country's liberation, he asked.
He recalled he had demanded that India move a separate resolution seeking credible international probe into alleged human rights violations during the peak of conflict in 2009.
Veteran CPI (M) leader and party's Rajya Sabha MP, T K Rangarajan, questioned the very authority of the UPA government to take such a policy decision since it was a 'minority' one and elections were on.
"My opinion is that the government cannot take any decision on international matters. It should have convened an all-party meeting since any new government may come to power after elections. What Congress (government) did is against people," he told PTI.
MDMK founder Vaiko also slammed Indian government, saying it had committed an "unpardonable crime" by not voting in favour of the US-backed resolution.
