India News

India’s Tamil Nadu State Dropped a Threat To Resign From The National Parliament After Sri Lank The ruling party in India’s Tamil Nadu state dropped a threat to resign from the national Parliament after Sri Lanka gave assurances civilians will be protected during its offensive to capture the headquarters of Tamil Tiger rebels. Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam won’t “precipitate any problem” in the coalition government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India’s state-run broadcaster Doordarshan cited Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee as saying late yesterday after talks with the state’s Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Earlier this month, 37 Tamil lawmakers said they would resign from the 541-member lower house within two weeks unless the government pressed Sri Lanka to halt its military offensive. Tamil support was crucial to Singh’s 19-vote margin of victory in a confidence motion in July. The Sri Lankan army’s drive to capture the headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and end a 25-year civil war has resulted in more than 230,000 civilians being displaced from their homes, according to Tamil aid officials. A Sri Lankan envoy visiting India said yesterday the government will allow Indian aid to reach civilians affected by the fighting. India was never part of the cease-fire that Norway brokered in Sri Lanka in 2002, “so we cannot restore it,” Mukherjee said after meeting Karunanidhi in Chennai, the state capital, according to Doordarshan. No Military Solution The DMK’s position on the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka is clearly known, Mukherjee said. “Several times myself and the prime minister have pointed out there is no military solution.” Karunanidhi confirmed his party won’t destabilize Singh’s government, Doordarshan reported, without giving any details. Tamil Nadu is home to some 73,000 Sri Lankan refugees, most of them Tamils, according to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “We will look at the humanitarian needs and every assurance has been given” to India, Basil Rajapaksa, senior adviser to Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said at a meeting in New Delhi with Mukherjee yesterday. India emphasized the need for “unhindered essential relief supplies” to civilians caught in the hostilities in the north, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. “Both sides agreed that terrorism should be countered with resolve” and, as a gesture of goodwill, India will send about 800 tons of relief materials for civilians in the north, according to the statement posted on the ministry’s Web site. The Sri Lankan government will facilitate the delivery. Relief Supplies India is concerned about the plight of civilians displaced by the fighting, Singh said Oct. 18. In order to address the humanitarian situation, “continued and uninterrupted relief supplies” need to be ensured for the displaced people.” The army has driven to within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the LTTE’s headquarters in the northern town of Kilinochchi. It began attacking the group’s last bases in the north early this year after capturing the eastern region in July last year. The LTTE is fighting for a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of the South Asian island nation. It says the army’s offensives amount to genocide and the air force is bombing civilian targets, charges the government denies. Artillery shells landed near Kilinochchi hospital two days ago without causing any injuries, TamilNet reported at the time.