Jayewardene said that he also conveyed his determination to oppose separatism and the resort to violence in pursuit of political objectives to the Indian Prime Minister.
The 13-month-old Farooq Abdullah Ministry was dismissed by the governor Jagmohan Malhotra followed by the installation of a new government headed by G M Shah. Farooq’s ministry was dismissed on its being reduced to a minority after 12 party MLAs and an independent announced their withdrawal of support. Fourteen new ministers were also sworn in in the new ministry.
Opposition Condemns
Owing to the pre-dawn defection and installation of a minority government in Jammu and Kashmir, the Opposition called for a united condemnation of this “undemocratic act”. While L K Advani, the BJP general secretary opined that the governor should have allowed the Abdullah government to test its majority, CPM leader E M S Namboodiripad felt this was another step by the Congress regime against non-Congress governments.
Tamil Issue And India
J R Jayewardene, the Sri Lankan President said that he had recapitulated his views to Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, that the political resolution to the Tamil problem was Sri Lanka’s “internal matter”. Jayewardene said that he also conveyed his determination to oppose separatism and the resort to violence in pursuit of political objectives to the Indian Prime Minister.
Landslides Kill 30
According to official reports, 30 people were killed in two major landslides — one in Wayanad in Kerala and the other in Chikmagalur in Karnataka. Among the 16 people who were killed at Rani Hill in Wayanad, 12 were Adivasis. Fourteen plantation workers were killed in the landslides at Madhugundi village, about 80 km from Chikmagalur.
