Chennai:
Union ministers AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram are likely to meet DMK chief M Karunanidhi today in a bid to placate him after he threatened to snap ties with the Congress-led UPA government over the Lankan Tamils issue. Mr Karunanidhi wants the Centre to amend the proposed UN resolution to incorporate the demand for an international probe and time-bound action against those who may be found guilty of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, college students across Tamil Nadu have intensified their protests, demanding that India move a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN's human rights body meet to press Colombo to acknowledge commission of genocide against its Tamil population.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today wrote to the Prime Minister, saying that "India should move amendments to strengthen US resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC," and that it must "take a historic, strong, and courageous stand on the issue".
Last week, Mr Karunanidhi had said, "If India doesn't make amendments, we will pull out our ministers and our support to UPA is doubtful," after he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, saying he felt "let down" by the government on the issue.
Mr Karunanidhi's threat came despite Finance Minister P Chidambaram hinting at a possible vote against Sri Lanka. "I'm confident that if phrases in the UN resolution sought credible independent international probe, India would support it," Mr Chidambaram had said last week.
The government has so far been non-committal over its stand on the Lankan Tamils issue.
With 18 MPs, DMK is the second biggest constituent of the Congress-led UPA, providing crucial support to a government that has, of late, been tested vigorously by several coalition partners.
The US-sponsored motion against Sri Lanka puts the island nation in the dock over alleged war crimes and rights violations against Tamil civilians during the final phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Last year, India had supported a similar resolution following pressure from political parties in Tamil Nadu.