Finally, the 'All Party' meet in Chennai has given an ultimatum to the Centre that all Members of Parliament representing Tamil Nadu would resign if the Centre fails to ensure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka within two weeks. That would include all Union Ministers including the Finance Minister as also the Rajya Sabha Members. In the unlikely event of this resolution getting implemented, will the AIADMK and MDMK members resign? More importantly, one doesn't know if the TNCC President KV Thangabalu and D Sudarsanam were authorized by the Party's High Command to be a party to this resolution that goes against the very fundamentals of the Union Government's declared policy to stay out of Sri Lanka's internal affairs.

In all fairness, the Sri Lankan Government is not at war with the Tamils of Sri Lanka. If there is a war at all, that is against the LTTE, which is banned in India and whose leader has been convicted for murdering our dear Rajiv Gandhi. It is ironical that the Congress is unwittingly a party to the resolution.

Very recently Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa made it abundantly clear that the military action was against terrorism and not against the Tamils.

Let me hasten to mention that I am carrying no brief for the Sri Lankan Government. All said and done, Rajapaksa seems to be pursuing a fair policy. He has made it clear that the Sri Lankan Government would guarantee to the Tamil people of the North the same democratic rights that are enjoyed by the people in other parts of the country. What more does one expect from a Head of State?

Very recently when the DMK passed a resolution and after the Prime Minister spoke to Karunanidhi, our National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had summoned the Sri Lankan Envoy and conveyed India's concern. I do not think the Government of India could do anything further, as it is committed to a war against terrorism on its own soil.

P.S: I do not know if the norms of editorial writing would permit a post script. However I venture to condemn with all the force at my command, the way the activists of the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam , along with a few advocates and law college students in Coimbatore protested against an editorial-page-article that appeared in the Hindu yesterday (14th October 2008) on the Sri Lankan issue. They raised slogans and burnt copies of The Hindu and a stone was hurled at the building! Freedom of expression has to be protected at any cost.