Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M. Karunanidhi on Sunday slammed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Chief Minster Jayalalithaa over the issue of retrieving Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka, and sarcastically remarked “she should set foot on the ground to know the truth.”

In a statement, Karunanidhi said, “The DMK never accepted the decision to cede Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka nor did we support it. Despite the DMK and I making several representations to the Centre to retrieve it and protect the rights of Indian fishermen, Jayalalithaa keeps accusing us over this issue.”

The DMK supremo said Jayalalithaa in 1994 had written to then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao that the ceding of the tiny island to Sri Lanka had been done by the Centre in the interest of better bilateral relations.

He also recalled a letter he had written in 1974 to the Prime Minister after the ceding was complete expressing his “deep sense of disappointment”, adding that in 2003 Jayalalithaa in a letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee had recognised Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over Katchatheevu.

He further said the Chief Minister had also said that only the Centre had the right to seek the island’s retrieval. “If she keeps flying in the skies all the time, she will not know the truth...,” he remarked.

(The Hindu)