Move aimed at pushing for truce
By Jamila Najmuddin
Two delegations led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvelu Karunanidhi will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 4 to push for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka while at least one other delegation is expected to meet the Indian Premier on Friday to discuss its concerns.
Mr. Karunanidhi convened an emergency meeting of political party leaders yesterday to plan the next course of action over the crisis in Sri Lanka and warned that time was running out for the Sri Lankan government.
He said Tamil Nadu would take a tough course of action against Sri Lanka if immediate steps were not taken to safeguard the Tamils in the North.
An official from Chief Minister Karunanindhi’s office told Daily Mirror after the meeting, that the Chief Minister appeared angry and expressed his disap pointment over the Indian government’s failure to effectively handle the Sri Lankan issue.
“He told those present that he will take action against the Indian government for failing to respond to the sufferings of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. He said time was running out for President Rajapaksa. He became very agitated and warned he would not allow the Sri Lankan government to harm innocent Tamils in the North under cover of a military operation as hundreds of innocent Tamils have been killed,” the official said.
Mr. Karunanindhi had also said he would send his own delegation to Sri Lanka in the future if the matter was not addressed in an appropriate manner.
“My silence should not be taken for granted. I will not allow anyone to harm the innocent Tamils. They have already suffered the brunt of the war. I know that the Indian government, has in the past, warned the Sri Lankan government, but it is disappointing to see the warning has been taken lightly by it. I will convey my concerns to Dr. Singh next week,” Mr. Karunanindhi was quoted as saying at yesterday’s meeting.
The official said that at the end of yesterday’s high level meeting in Tamil Nadu a resolution was adopted that a delegation would visit New Delhi next week to urge Prime Minister Singh to reiterate a political solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict.
The official said Mr. Karunanindhi’s daughter, Kanimozhi, who recently submitted her resignation over the Sri Lankan issue, is also likely to accompany her father for next week’s meeting in New Delhi.
Yesterday’s meeting which was boycotted by the opposition AIADMK, its ally MDMK and CPI (M), CPI and DMDK, also decided that MP’s from all political parties in Tamil Nadu should meet the Prime Minister on Friday to reiterate their demand for a solution to the crisis in Sri Lanka.
The parties at the meeting urged the Indian government to strictly warn the Sri Lankan government to stop the war against Sri Lankan Tamils in the North instead of just limiting it to rhetoric.
Meanwhile, the CPI, MDMK and a few other political parties organized a protest demonstration in various parts of Tamil Nadu yesterday urging the government to take immediate action to stop the war in Sri Lanka. The protesters shouted slogans condemning the Indian government’s inaction over the Sri Lankan issue.
courtesy:dailymirror.lk
No comments:
Post a Comment