Advani urged to help bring truce in SL

Indian opposition leader LK Advani was Sunday urged to bring about a truce in Sri Lanka by a Tamil MP from the island nation.

Indian opposition leader LK Advani was Sunday urged to bring about a truce in Sri Lanka by a Tamil MP from the island nation.

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MK Shivaji Lingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) quoted Advani as telling him in New Delhi that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would raise the issue in parliament.

“We will also take up the matter with the prime minister (Manmohan Singh),” Advani reportedly said, adding that India would never let down the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

Shivaji Lingam is one of 22 MPs from the TNA, which is allied to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He met the BJP leader at his residence.

The MP told IANS that he explained to Advani the situation in Sri Lanka, particularly the civilian suffering in the north as the military battles the LTTE to capture the rebel territory.

According to Shivaji Lingam, thousands of Tamil civilians have been displaced from their homes due to the war. Many, he said, were living in the open, under the trees.

He told the BJP's prime ministerial candidate that the need of the hour was a ceasefire to be followed by talks between Colombo and the LTTE.

“We urge you to help end the fighting (in Sri Lanka) and bring about a negotiated settlement,” Shivaji Lingam said. “We in the TNA don't see this as a war against the LTTE, it is genocide.”

The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly stated that it is determined to crush the LTTE and has no intention of talking to the Tigers.