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Student’s protest escalated to the maximum level, wherever turned.
 Tuesday , 19 March 2013
 The protests continuously held by the students has escalated to the maximum in Tamil Nadu insisting war crime investigation against Sri Lanka government and India to support the resolution brought in Geneva against Sri Lanka.Students from various districts of Tamil Nadu have joined this demonstration. Lawyers in support of students have stepped down to the field.
Chennai
The students from the Chennai University have commenced a protest inside the university premises from yesterday and more than three thousand students are participating.
In support of students, lawyers have joined the rallies. Lawyers surrendered the custom office located in Chennai yesterday morning demanded “a referendum to be held for Tamil Eelam”, such slogans were chanted at the demonstration.
Police attempted to carry out violence against the lawyers who attended the protest which caused severe friction between the police and the lawyers.
Madurai
Six Lawyers from Madurai district commenced a hunger protest from yesterday. Eight demands including India should vote against Sri Lanka in Geneva are the demands for the protest.
Meanwhile thousands of students from many regions from Tamil Nadu, namely Ramanathapuram Viruthunagar, Tiruchi, Velore, Kovai, Selam including many areas, students were involved in demonstrations against Sri Lanka.
12 students from Palaniyandavar Arts and Cultural Centre located at Palani district have commenced hunger protest.
Thousands and more students from Thindugal district yesterday suddenly organized a processesion, which caused severe traffic congestion in the locality.
15 students from Thiruvannamalai District Government Art College organized a rally on foot to Chennai. The procession will reach on foot to Chennai today and will surrender the Sri Lanka vice-consulate office and will conduct a protest was said.
Sri Lanka Tamil refugees located at Eerodu district Bawanichagari were engaged in demonstration demanding an immediate economy sanction imposed against Sri Lanka, and immediate international probe against Sri Lanka.
Puthuchery
Thousands and more students from Puthucheri state organized a massive rally yesterday up to Puthuchery parliament. Demands were “India’s support for the resolution brought against Sri Lanka in Geneva was unanimously passed at the Puthuchery parliament yesterday.
Idintha Karai
Women from Idinthakarai locality close to Koodankulam Nuclear station were engaged in black flag protest against Sri Lanka government.
Continuous protest
Human chain protest is held today Tuesday from Chennai New College up to Kottai and on Thursday they will organize a demonstration to block trains was notified by the Tamil Eelam students movement.
The entire Engineering College students from Tamil Nadu have advanced protest against Sri Lanka.
In this state, Annamali University has notified the immediate closure of entire Engineering Colleges located in Tamil Nadu and students to vacate the student’s hostels before 7.00 p.m today.
Attacks against fishermen
At a state protests against Sri Lanka in India has heighten in Tamil Nadu, attacks against the Tamil Nadu fishermen by Sri Lanka navy has got intensified.
Some fishermen engaged in fishing trade yesterday were attacked by Sri Lanka navy force. Condemning this act the fishermen were on strike.
Tamil people living in Japan have advanced protests against Sri Lanka government. Insisting referendum for Tamil Eelam, international investigations against Sri Lanka, an immediate economy sanction are the demands by the Tamils living in Japan, and a supplication was handed over yesterday to Japanese Prime Minister.
Karuna softens, seeks House resolution
 Chennai/New Delhi, March 18: M. Karunanidhi today climbed down and sought a Parliament resolution condemning the “genocide” of Tamils in Sri Lanka and demanding a time-bound international war crimes probe, but the Centre will find even this difficult to carry out.Yesterday, the DMK president had declared his party would quit the UPA if India failed to facilitate a similar declaration at the United Nations Human Rights Council by introducing amendments to a US-sponsored resolution.
Karunanidhi softened his stand after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with three senior Union ministers — A.K. Antony, P. Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad — who had rushed to Chennai to placate him and stave off a crisis.
“I conveyed this (the revised stand) to the three Union ministers and they have promised to do the needful. If they carry out this demand, the tensions could subside,” the former Tamil Nadu chief minister said after the talks.
Although Karunanidhi claimed the Congress had agreed to move the resolution in Parliament, the cabinet trio were non-committal.
All Azad would say was: “We wanted to discuss in person the contents of the letter Karunanidhiji had written to the Prime Minister and Mrs (Sonia) Gandhi. We have discussed threadbare the contents of the letter and we will report back to the Prime Minister and the Congress president.”
Although the Congress had tried to reach out to the DMK patriarch by dispatching the three heavyweight ministers, it also told him he had over-reached himself by coming up with an untenable demand and linking it to his party’s support.
The three ministers explained to Karunanidhi that moving amendments to an American resolution at the UN body was not technically feasible. It was Karunanidhi who apparently came up with the compromise formula after the talks had remained deadlocked for almost two hours.
But even now, it is doubtful how far the Congress can implement the face-saver without jeopardising its diplomatic ties with Colombo. So, the next round of tensions between the allies could be about the wording of the resolution and how to push it through.
While the DMK will ask for a resolution moved by the government, the Congress might suggest a private member’s resolution.
The Centre doesn’t want to antagonise Sri Lanka, where China is spreading its wings, at a time relations with Nepal too have come under strain.
Even at the UN, where India once voted against Colombo, it does not want to repeatedly send out negative signals. New Delhi also realises that supporting an intrusive US resolution at the world body could hold implications for Kashmir.
External affairs minister Salman Khurshid had refused to spell out the government’s stand when the matter was debated in Parliament but assured the members about “keeping their sentiments in mind”.
If the resolution Karunanidhi wants is indeed passed in Parliament, he can flaunt it as an achievement better than the Assembly resolution passed by the Jayalalithaa government in Chennai.
Keeping up the game of one-upmanship, Jayalalithaa today dashed off a letter to the Prime Minister. It demanded that India put forward amendments to the US resolution, seeking “a credible, independent, international mechanism to prosecute genocide, war crimes and war criminals and the accused should stand trial before an international court”.
Crisis talks
Chidambaram, Antony and Azad have excellent rapport with Karunanidhi and the decision to send all three indicated Sonia’s desperation to salvage the situation. The Congress sent them only after a categorical statement from Chennai that the pullout threat was genuine.
The trio skipped an important cabinet meeting to fly to Chennai as the DMK’s support has become crucial after Trinamul’s exit. A pullout would have reduced the government to a minority and left it at the mercy of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is flexing his muscles every day and asking his cadres to get ready for elections later this year.
One of the three ministers’ mandates was to extract a promise that the DMK would extend support from outside even if it chose to leave the government.
A senior MP from the DMK who is close to Karunanidhi explained why the party had taken such a hard line.
“Students are out on the streets. Once that happens, political parties can only swim along with the public sentiments,” he said.
“This student agitation is reminiscent of the one in 1965 against the Centre’s imposition of Hindi on Tamil Nadu. The agitation has gone out of the hands of even diehard pro-LTTE leaders like Vaiko.”
He added: “India should intervene bilaterally like Rajiv Gandhi did. If the Congress is only concerned about protecting or increasing its commercial interests in Sri Lanka instead of fighting for the rights of the Tamils there, it will be very difficult for us to continue supporting it because we have an election to fight in Tamil Nadu.”
Posted by Thavam
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