DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Sunday joined NDA allies like PMK and MDMK in Tamil Nadu in criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wishing Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa success during the upcoming elections in the island country.

In a Q & A statement, Karunanidhi said , "It has to be condemned strongly...The UN is debating on the nature of genocidal charges against Rajapaksa. Wishing him to come back to power is like supporting the war crimes and violations of human rights by him".

During his address at the 18th SAARC Summit, Modi had wished good luck to Rajapaksa for the January polls in Sri Lanka.

Karunanidhi also opposed the Centre's move to remove Tamil scholar and former vice-chancellor of Tamil University Avvai Natarajan from the post of vice-chairperson of Central Institute of Classical Tamil.

Replying to a query, he said, "I wonder whether all these hasty actions are being done with the consent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Such unnecessary actions would not bring a good name to the Central government." He also cited Madras High Court's stay on Natarajan's termination orders.

However, Karunanidhi welcomed the Centre's announcement to officially celebrate the birthday of philosopher-poet Thiruvalluvar, as impressed upon by BJP Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay. "This is one of the BJP announcements to be welcomed. I welcome the decision on behalf of DMK and thank the Central government. I also insist that like the way his birthday is celebrated by the Centre, it should also nationalize his work Thirukkural," Karunanidhi said.

To another query on Karnataka state minister's statement that caste-based census would be conducted soon in that state, Karunanidhi said, "I welcome the efforts by Karnataka government to conduct caste census. I also insist that the Tamil Nadu government should also accept the demands from various quarters and carry out caste census."

(The times of India)