New Delhi. Amid the raging controversy over the Sri Lankan island of Katchatheevu, senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday said what made the case different was that there was no give-and-take and it was a normal situation when any territory is involved. It is customary. He emphasized that India had given Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka without taking anything in return.
Late former Chief Ministers M. Karunanidhi and J. The emotive issue of Katchatheevu Island (this island was handed over to Sri Lanka by the Government of India in 1974), which has always been a bone of contention between Jayalalitha, is once again in the news before the Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised this issue in a rally in Meerut and also on social media and targeted Congress.
In 2014, Mukul Rohatgi, who was the Attorney General at the time, had told the Supreme Court that to regain Katchatheevu, “we will have to go to war”. When he was asked about the same, he told the story behind it, Rohatgi told NDTV, “Generally there is regional exchange between us. We had done this with Pakistan in the past… We had done some such activities with Pakistan in 1958-1960 because that was a consequence of post-independence and it was understandable.”
He further said, “I remember that a few years ago, the present government also had some exchanges with Bangladesh. These were some areas. Territory may have something to do with it, but in the Katchatheevu case it was merely giving… the island was handed over to Sri Lanka. Why was the island handed over, what did we get in return, these are questions which Congress should answer.”
Katchatheevu Island is spread over 280 acres in the Palk Strait which connects the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. It was a part of India till 1976. It was handed over to Sri Lanka by Indira Gandhi’s government under an agreement. Information received from RTI which was given by Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai shared that, according to him, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had made an agreement with Sri Lankan President Srimavo Bandaranaike in 1974.
Under this agreement, Katchatheevu island was formally handed over to Sri Lanka. Regarding this, it was told that Indira Gandhi had made this agreement in view of the Lok Sabha campaign in Tamil Nadu. In such a situation, the official documents and records of the Parliament clearly show how India lost the battle for control of this island to a smaller country.
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Tags: aiadmk, DMK, Indira Gandhi, sri lanka, tamil nadu
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 2, 2024, 23:27 IST