E-Paper
Tamil student ends fast after Miliband's assurance
A Tamil student, who was on a three-week hunger strike in Parliament Square, has called off his protest after Foreign Secretary David Miliband wrote to him explaining the "strenuous efforts" being made by the UK to secure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
A Tamil student, who was on a three-week hunger strike in Parliament Square, has called off his protest after Foreign Secretary David Miliband wrote to him explaining the "strenuous efforts" being made by the UK to secure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
Parameswaram Subramaniam, 28, went on a fast on 6 April to draw attention to the plight of the Tamil civilians caught in the fighting between government troops and the LTTE.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said she could not comment on the specific contents of the letter as they were private, but added that it explained the "strenuous efforts" the UK had been undertaking to push for a ceasefire and ease the suffering among the civilians.
"(It) also underlines how protests by the Tamil community have helped raise awareness of the situation in Sri Lanka, how further loss of life would only add to the present tragedy, and looks forward to a future political role for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka," she said.
Subramaniam, who reportedly lost 10 members of his family in the conflict, said he would starve himself to death unless five conditions were met: the declaration of an immediate and permanent ceasefire; the provision of food and medical aid to the civilians caught in the "safe zone"; a meeting between the UN, the British government and Tamil representatives; a reversal of the UK's decision to classify the Tamil Tigers as terrorist group; and a UN-backed referendum on an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
Hundreds of Tamil demonstrators gathered every day around the protestor until he broke his fast yesterday afternoon.
Virendra Sharma, the Labour MP for Ealing Southall and chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, described the events as "very positive".
"I feel very strongly that this will give the right signal to everyone that the Tamil community is co-operating with the international community and giving it every opportunity to resolve the issue," he said.
"The loss of his life would have been a great loss to the world community. We must now put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to have an immediate ceasefire and to let the NGOs and the media move around freely. We must come back around the table to find a peaceful solution."
Miliband is currently in Sri Lanka with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner to push for a truce.
