'Double standards unmasked': PM Modi's latest attack on DMK, Congress over Katchatheevu issue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched a scathing attack on the DMK over the Katchatheevu island issue, saying that the MK Stalin-led party did nothing to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests.

"Rhetoric aside, DMK has done NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests. New details emerging on Katchatheevu have UNMASKED the DMK's double standards totally," the Prime Minister said on X.

The remark comes a day after PM Modi condemned Congress's handling of the issue.

Rhetoric aside, DMK has done NOTHING to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s interests. New details emerging on #Katchatheevu have UNMASKED the DMK’s double standards totally.

Congress and DMK are family units. They only care that their own sons and daughters rise. They don’t care for anyone…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 1, 2024

An RTI filed by Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai has revealed that India handed over the island to Sri Lanka in 1974 when Indira Gandhi was the prime minister.

Reports later claimed that then chief minister M Karunanidhi had given his concurrence to the agreement despite his party the DMK's public posturing against the deal.

"The Congress and DMK are family units. They only care that their own sons and daughters rise. They don't care for anyone else. Their callousness on Katchatheevu has harmed the interests of our poor fishermen and fisherwomen in particular," PM Modi added.

On Sunday, the Prime Minister had said that "weakening India's unity, integrity and interests has been the Congress' way of working for 75 years and counting."

The Katchatheevu island issue has become the latest flashpoint between the BJP and DMK-Congress alliance, with the saffron party targeting the ruling alliance over its handling of the situation.

The issue assumes political significance since it involves neighbouring Sri Lanka whose treatment of Tamilian citizens and Tamil Nadu fishermen has long been a charged political issue in the state.

Earlier today, external affairs minister S Jaishankar tore into the opposition Congress and DMK over the Katchatheevu issue, saying that past prime ministers showed "indifference" about the island and gave away the rights of Indian fishermen despite legal views to the contrary.

Speaking at a press conference, Jaishankar said that both Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi dismissed the territory as "little island" and "little rock", allowing Sri Lanka to claim it.