The Hindu : Front Page : “Take steps to stop war in Sri Lanka today itself”

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Saturday, Jan 24, 2009
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“Take steps to stop war in Sri Lanka today itself”

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday made a “final appeal” to the Centre, urging it to take steps to stop the war in Sri Lanka “today itself.” Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who moved the resolution, said the ceasefire should be followed by a political solution to the ethnic conflict and permanent peace in the land of the Buddha.

“I am moving the resolution expecting a positive outcome. If it fails to produce the desired effect, the DMK’s executive committee or general council will discuss the issue and take a decision,” he said.

The AIADMK’s deputy leader, O. Panneerselvam, rejected the resolution and staged a walkout with his colleagues before it was placed before the House for voting, stating his party could not be part of the government’s “drama.” Its ally, the MDMK, followed suit. The Chief Minister quipped that AIADMK MLAs “deserved praise” as they had succeeded in smearing the resolution which had found a place in the heart of the Tamils.

To drive home the point that the Centre had the duty to intervene and stop the war, the Chief Minister quoted the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s message to the Indian National Congress in 1939: “India is weak today; and cannot do much for her children abroad. But she does not forget them and every insult to them is humiliation and sorrow for her. A day will come when her long arm protection and her strength will compel justice for them.”Mr. Karunanidhi said Sri Lanka had become a graveyard of innocent Tamils and the United Nations had also condemned their killing.

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