Govt taking legal steps on Mullaperiyar issue: Karunanidhi

Chennai, Nov 5 : Flaying opposition AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa and MDMK leader Vaiko for finding fault with his government on the Mullaperiyar issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today said the government was taking all legal steps to protect the interest of the state.

Reacting to the charges levelled by Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Vaiko that he failed to protect the interest of the state on the issue, Mr Karunanidhi, in a six-page statement, said thanks to the efforts taken by the state government, the Supreme Court had yesterday declined to entertain a petition filed by Kerala to fortify its argument that the Mullaperiyar dam had become weak.

He said due to continuous legal steps being taken by the state government, the Supreme Court had not only declined to entertain the petition, supported by a report by IIT Roorke on the safety of the dam, but also censured the Kerala government for enacting a legislation to nullify the Apex court's 2006 order directing it to increase the water level from 136 ft to 142 ft.

Listing out the number of steps taken by his government and giving details of letters written to the Prime Minister and Kerala Chief Minister on the issue, Mr Karunanidhi said the charge by the opposition leaders that the government did nothing, was only an attempt to cheat the people of the state.

He said after the Supreme Court passed orders on February 27, 2006 that Tamil Nadu could raise the water level from 136 ft to 142 ft in the first phase, the Kerala government, within 16 days, had enacted a special legislation to nullify the court order.

The then Jayalalithaa government had moved the Supreme Court only after two weeks, but remained silent after filing the stay petition.

Only after the DMK came to power in May 2006, steps were taken to get the petition numbered, he said.

Mr Karunanidhi said when the Supreme Court suggested that the two governments could hold talks and try to resolve the issue, he held talks with his Kerala counterpart, when he came out with the proposal for a new dam. The talks failed after Tamil Nadu stoutly opposed the move for new dam.

For the second time in December 2007, Tamil Nadu held talks with Kerala government on the suggestion of Prime Minister, but again the talks failed. After this, the Supreme court decided to hold a separate sitting to hear the case since October this year, he said.

In the 2006 order itself, the Supreme court had directed Kerala not to obstruct Tamil Nadu in carrying out the strengthening measures as suggested by the central water commission.

However, the Kerala government, right from 2006, had been placing hurdles, violating the Supreme Court order, Mr Karunanidhi said and gave details of various actions taken by the Kerala government against the interest of Tamil Nadu.

When some unidentified elements caused damage to the parapet wall of the dam, Tamil Nadu immediately brought this to the notice of the Centre and demanded posting of Central Industrial Security Force(CISF) at the dam.

Similarly, the state government had brought to the notice of the Centre and the Supreme Court when Kerala denied permission to the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department officials and water resource officials to visit the dam, he said.

The Kerala government after denying permission to Tamil Nadu tourism to take pictures of the dam, allowed its own photographers to take pictures and Tamil Nadu had lodged its protest with Kerala he alleged.

Denying Mr Vaiko's charge that the DMK government had not written any letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Karunanidhi gave datewise details of letters which he had written to the Prime Minister and the Kerala Chief Minister on the issue.

UNI WS AA AS2005
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Prince of Arcot asks Muslims not to recite Vande Mataram
Chennai, Nov 5 : Prince of Arcot Mohammd Abdul Ali today defended the resolution adopted by Jamaat-e Ulema-e-Hind at the recent conference at Deoband, asking Muslims not to recite Vande Mataram.

In a statement here, he said the controversy over Vande Mataram , which was ''unnecessarily spewing anti-Muslim venom in politics, after the Jamait Ulama-i-Hind adopted the resolution, should end once for all.

''Vande Mataram is a national song and not the national anthem of India. Therefore, refusing to sing it by a particular community cannot be construed as showing disrespect to the country'', he said.

He urged fellow citizens to refrain from talking about religion in relation to the Vande Mataram row and instead promote the true spirit of secularism in the interest of genuine nation building.

He said in the defence of minorities that rights guranteed under the constitution was not a matter of appeasement, but of basic fair play. ''No society can call itself democratic and modern unless it defends and protects its minorities'', the prince said.

--UNI

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