Tamil Nadu party protests offensive on Lankan Tamils

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Feb.8 (ANI): Activists of the Puthia Tamilgam, a regional party in Tamil Nadu, took to the streets of Coimbatore on Saturday to protest against the Sri Lankan Army's offensive on ethnic Tamils in that island-nation

The protestors raised slogans and called for the conflict in Sri Lanka to end.

"What we demand is that there must be a political solution, for which, the Indian Government should intervene. For the last six months, the Sri Lankan Government is using its military forces against its ordinary Sri Lankan Tamils. So, the war should be stopped immediately. Peace must prevail. There should be a political solution. This is our demand," said Krishnaswamy, a leader of the party.

Sri Lanka's military has encircled the Tigers and is confident it will win a war that is now one of Asia's longest-running conflicts, in which 70,000 people have been killed since 1983.

India has been demanding protection for Sri Lanka's Tamils, who are closely linked to the 60 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu, separated by a narrow strait of Indian Ocean.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee recently visited Sri Lanka and discussed with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, various possible safety measures for trapped Tamils and post-war reconstruction.

The visit was aimed at cooling tensions between the Central Government and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu. (ANI)