Four DMK MPs send resignation letters over Sri Lanka issue

Even as the central government asked Sri Lanka to halt its military offensive against the Tamil Tigers, Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK announced Friday that four of its Rajya Sabha MPs had submitted post-dated resignation letters to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to demand an end to the violence in the island nation.This was stated in a statement faxed to newspaper offices in the evening.

A party spokesman told IANS late Friday that more MPs were likely to hand in their post-dated resignation letters.

“Most MPs are still in Tamil Nadu while a few are returning from New Delhi. The party has not worked out a programme for an en masse resignation as the central government is seriously acting upon the resolution passed at the all-party meeting (held Monday),” he said.

Asked about Karunanidhi’s daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi handing her resignation letter to her father Tuesday, the spokesman said the gesture was of “a symbolic nature since she felt that the upper house members did not come within the purview of the resolution”.

“The resignation offer from all MPs of Tamil Nadu comes with a rider. It will take effect only if the killings do not end within a fortnight, which expires Oct 29. We have great faith in the United Progressive Alliance leadership at the centre and hope the suffering of our brethren in the island will end soon,” the spokesman added.

Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry together have 40 members in the Lok Sabha - all of who have offered to quit if the government fails to take action on the Sri Lankan issue.

Lawyers in Coimbatore burnt an effigy of Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony within the court premises earlier in the day, alleging a conspiracy by bureaucrats of Kerala origin to keep the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka on tenterhooks.

The protesting lawyers burnt copies of The Hindu neewspaper, which carried an interview Friday by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa saying that he was committed to a “just and enduring political solution” to the festering problem. The lawyers alleged that major newspapers in the country were ignoring the “just demands” of the minority Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Source: thaindian