India’s action on Sri Lanka not satisfactory, says Communist Party of India

India’s action on Sri Lanka not satisfactory, says Communist Party of India
The action taken by the Central government in response to the demand of the people of Tamil Nadu to stop the war in Sri Lanka was neither satisfactory nor promising, Communist Party of India State secretary D. Pandian said on Saturday.

Talking to journalists here, he said India could not wash its hands of the Sri Lankan Tamils issue on the pretext that it was an internal matter of another country.

“When human rights are violated, borders of a country cannot be a stumbling block. In the case of Sri Lanka we have a close relationship with the Tamils.”

Stating that people of Tamil Nadu were ready to donate food and medicine to the Sri Lankan Tamils, Mr. Pandian requested N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, to get permission from Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to distribute the same.

Aid for Tamils; Karunanidhi contributes INR 10 lakhs

Aid for Tamils; Karunanidhi contributes INR 10 lakhs
According to Indian reports, a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi appealed to the people to contribute to provide relief for Tamils in Sri Lanka, financial assistances started pouring in, with the Chief Minister himself opening the account with a contribution of Indian Rs 10 lakhs.

After Karunanidhi had announced last evening that the state government wanted to meet the immediate need of the Lankan Tamils for food, clothes and medicines and appealed to the people to contribute generously, DMK Central Ministers and State Ministers made their contributions this morning.

No civilians in Killinochchi - Basil

No civilians in Killinochchi - Basil

MP Rajapaksa, who visited India as a special envoy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said that torrential rains and flooding had affected Tamils displaced by the fighting in the North and that India had pledged to provide food and medicine for them. He added that UN agencies would visit the war zone to assess the situation. “Both countries are proving to be genuine friends. This is true for the people of the two countries too,” Rajapaksa told IANS, a day after meeting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other officials. “India has really proved to be a real friend. They are friends of Sri Lanka,” said Rajapaksa. “We found they (India) have understood very well our problems.” “We also realise that we need to do everything we can do for the safety of civilians (in the war zone). We are discussing (this issue with India),” said Rajapaksa. “We want to ensure zero civilian casualties or at least keep it to the very minimum.” Providing a gist of his talks here, Rajapaksa told IANS: “There are certain hardships (to civilians). We agree. We want to minimise them. There are no civilians now in Kilinochchi.