Concerted effort in Tamil Nadu to prosecute Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes

Renewed calls urging the central government of India to act to bring those responsible for the alleged war crimes against Sri Lankan Tamil civilians to justice are being made by various parties in Tamil Nadu state, media reports say.


The latest call to prosecute Sri Lanka has come from the president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee today to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

According to a PTI report, the president of TNCC, K. V. Thangkabalu today has appealed the Indian PM in person to ensure that 'those responsible for alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka against Tamil civilians during the last phase of the offensive against the LTTE in Sri Lanka faced action.'

The TNCC president has called on the PM at his residence, and referring to the recent UN Expert Panel report on the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, has said that action should be taken against persons responsible under international laws for the alleged war crimes.

He has also discussed with the Indian PM the issue of the displaced Tamil remaining in the camps and the attacks on the Indian fishermen allegedly by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Thangkabalu has urged the PM to monitor the Indian aid to Sri Lankan Tamils to ensure that the aid reach the intended beneficiaries. A permanent solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka was also one of his requests to the Central government.

The Prime Minister had assured he would take necessary steps on these issues, the report said.

Meanwhile, a women activist group called "Indian Women's Rights Activists in Solidarity with Women in Sri Lanka" has demanded the Indian government to take steps to provide justice and basic relief to the people affected by the conflict, an IANS report said.

"We strongly condemn the Indian government's silence and active participation in many of the human rights violations meted out by the Sri Lankan government," the group had said in a statement.

The group had said that it had stopped believing in Colombo's periodic pledges to bring about reconciliation in the country.

The increased pressure on the Indian government to act against Sri Lanka has been observed after the election of the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jeyaram Jeyalalithaa who is seen as a more ardent supporter of the Tamil cause than her predecessor DMK president M. Karunanidhi who is fast losing support among the Tamils.