Vellore: AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa on Monday reiterated her promise to create an independent state for Tamil minorities in Sri Lanka "the same way as (late prime minister) Indira Gandhi liberated Bangladesh".
"If a (party or alliance) that heeds our demands comes to power at the centre, I assure you that I shall take steps to create a Tamil Eelam in the same way as Indira Gandhi liberated Bangladesh," she said at an election rally in Vellore.
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of turning India into a "banana republic" by aligning with the US.
"Manmohan Singh has turned India into a banana republic aligned with the global sinister designs of the US and its military and economic exploitation of the world," she said addressing a large crowd of supporters in this town, 200 km southwest of Chennai with a sizeable number of Muslims.
She criticised the US for its attacks against Muslim allies of India like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan and its alleged support to the Sri Lankan government for the military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Jayalalithaa also drew a parallel between India's letting off Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochchi and the continued attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka.
"Prime Minister Singh defended Quattrochchi being let off the hook saying 'one should not torture the weak'. Naturally, our suffering Tamil brethren in Sri Lanka are not (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi's compatriots and relatives from Italy to be treated nicely thus," she said.
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