By IANS
Chennai : Parties across the political divide in Tamil Nadu have hardened their stands against killings of innocent Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in a statement said his government was a “live human shield of the Tamil ethnic minority against the murderous Sri Lankan regime”.
“The DMK government acts as a live human shield of the ethnic Tamil minority in Sri Lanka by using its status as a state government to press for their justifiable demands,” Karunanidhi said.
Replying to relentless opposition criticism against the alleged “double standards” of the centre and the state, Karunanidhi reiterated the demand for an immediate cessation of hostilities to spare innocent lives in Sri Lanka.
State Congress unit president K.V. Thangkabalu told reporters that his colleagues would explain the proactive acts of the central and state governments to alleviate the sufferings of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.
“Certain forces are acting against India’s integrity and unity by converting the Sri Lankan Tamil problem into a local fissiparous movement. My party colleagues will explain the proactive measures of the state and central governments and expose this perfidy effectively,” Thangkabalu said.
MDMK chief Vaiko slammed the state and central governments in the matter as he publicly hailed lawyers fasting to press for a ceasefire in the island.
“A black flag demonstration will be held Feb 7 all over Tamil Nadu to expose the double standards of the centre and the state and garner public support against the cruel Sri Lankan regime’s genocide against Tamils,” Vaiko said.
“On the one hand the centre is arming, aiding and abetting Sri Lanka to exterminate Tamils and on the other paying lip sympathy to the suffering ethnic minority to fool the people here,” Vaiko added.
In Madurai, 400 km south of here, Communist Party of India’s state secretary D. Pandian said a case would shortly be filed in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Sri Lanka’s war crimes.
“The endeavour will be undertaken purely on a non-political basis by human rights experts and jurists to bring the war criminals in Sri Lanka to book,” Pandian said.
In several parts of the state, protesting advocates and students burnt Lankan flags and effigies of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Meanwhile, several lawyers’ organisations ignored the Madras High Court judges’ concern about their unruly behaviour while slamming Sri Lankan military’s offensive against Tamils and announced an indefinite boycott of courts.
The Madras High Court’s acting Chief Justice S. Mukhopadhyay and Judge V. Dhanapalan had expressed concern over the protests against the killing of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka earlier in the day.