Prabhakaran’s mother can come but only for treatment: India

CHENNAI - The mother of slain Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran can take medical treatment in India but only if she promises not to reach out to politicians, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announced here Monday quoting an Indian government order.

The chief minister told the assembly that the central government had given the green signal to let the 79-year-old Parvathi fly to India for medical treatment in Tamil Nadu subject to certain conditions.

“The central government has sent a letter on May 7 to the Indian ambassador in Malaysia marking a copy to the state government. In that letter the central government has stated (that) Parvathi can be permitted to enter India on humanitarian grounds,” he said.

According to him, the Indian government had stipulated that Parvathi can come to India only for medical treatment and should stay only in hospital, not anywhere else.

She should not be in touch with any political party and more so with people associated with any of the banned organisations while in India, the chief minister said.

Citing the letter, Karunanidhi added that Parvathi can be in touch only with listed relatives.

The central government has also stated that if Parvathi wishes to get treated in a government hospital, the Tamil Nadu government would provide necessary assistance.

The Indian embassy in Kuala Lumpur can get in touch with Parvathi there and extend her a visa for six months. Further action on the matter will be taken after getting Parvathi’s concurrence, Karunanidhi said.

On April 16, Parvathi, suffering from paralysis, arrived here with an aide from the Malaysian capital to be treated in a city hospital.

Indian immigration officials, however, refused her permission to alight from the aircraft and sent her back to Malaysia on the same plane, saying she was considered a law and order problem.

The issue was raised by different political parties in Tamil Nadu and in parliament by the DMK.

On April 30, Parvathi emailed Karunanidhi expressing her desire to undergo medical treatment in Tiruchirappalli, about 350 km from here, and sought his help.

The parents of Prabhakaran lived in Tamil Nadu for many years. They moved back to Sri Lanka in 2003 when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) came to control large areas of the island’s northeast.

After Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan military in May 2009, his parents were taken into custody. Later, Prabhakaran’s father died, and his mother moved to Malaysia.

According to Karunanidhi, the central government had imposed a ban on the entry of Parvathi, based on the letter written by the AIADMK government in 2003.