A Tamil nationalist party leader in Tamil Nadu asked if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena are conspiring to protect former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Manithaneya Makkal Katchi leader M.H. Jawahirullah raised this issue yesterday at a demonstration organized by Tamil nationalist parties in Thanjavur, ‘The Hindu’ reported.

Many speakers at the protest demanded that the former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa should be tried for his role in ‘the killings of Tamils’ in the island nation, the report said further.

Jawahirullah alleged that Rajapaksa’s actions had caused killings of more than 150,000 Tamils in the island. After sustained international pressure, the U.N. Human Rights Commission conducted a detailed investigation into the killings and was supposed to submit its report on March 25. However, UNHRC deferred the submission of the report by six months, accepting a request by the new Sri Lankan government.

“We suspect that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Maitripala Sirisena would conspire to protect Rajapaksa. The UN body must go ahead and present its report and bring Rajapaksa to justice for his role in the war crimes,” he added.
(With inputs from The Hindu)