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Vaiko also asks TN ministers to quit

October 15, 2008 17:07 IST

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko said on Wednesday that Union ministers from Tamil Nadu should resign if the Centre did not take steps to stop the Sri Lankan Army's "offensive" in the Tamil-speaking areas of that country.

In a statement in Chennai, he said the MDMK would not have "any issue in sacrificing two of its MP posts over the Sri Lankan Tamil issue."

"The Centre should stop all military assistance to the island nation and ask the Lankan Government to continue peace talks (with LTTE) with the help of the Norwegian government to end the ethnic strife and establish a United Nations Office at Colombo," he said.

The urgent political message from Chennai

If the Sri Lankan government fails to accede to the demands, India should snap bilateral ties with that country, he said.

Vaiko also asked Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to withdraw support to the Centre, if the UPA Government does not come forward to initiate these demands.

MDMK and its ally AIADMK had boycotted the all-party meeting convened by Karunanidhi on the ethnic issue on Tuesday. A resolution passed at the meeting stated that all the MPs from Tamil Nadu would resign if the Centre did not take steps to end the fighting in a fortnight.

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