BJP for sanctions against Sri Lanka if civilian deaths continue

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - The international community has rejected calls for suspending Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth although the current conflict in that country is taking place 'in the shadows of war crimes,' a British minister said. Foreign Office Minister Gillian Merron said there was the danger of war crimes being committed because of the Sri Lankan government's decision to keep out international agencies from the area of conflict.

April 28th, 2009 TORONTO - Sri Lankan Tamils have warned of a civil war on the island nation if Colombo does not reciprocate to the Tigers' call for a ceasefire and called for strong action by the Canadian government. Sri Lankan Tamil here staged night-long protests in the heart of the city Monday and wrote a strongly worded letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

April 28th, 2009 TORONTO - Sri Lankan Tamils who staged night-long protests here Monday have warned of a civil war on the island nation if Colombo does not reciprocate to the Tigers' call for a ceasefire. In a strongly worded letter to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday, the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) said: 'Tamil Canadians are fearful that in the next 24 to 48 hours a civilian bloodbath will ensue if the government of Sri Lanka does not reciprocate the LTTE's (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) offer to a ceasefire.' Calling for immediate and strong action by the Canadian government, CTC president Sri Ranjan said in the letter, 'Canada must force the government of Sri Lanka to reciprocate the immediate ceasefire by cutting all diplomatic and economic relations with Sri Lanka.' The Tamil organisation also urged the Canadian parliamentarians to put pressure on the government to intervene in the conflict immediately.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Monday insisted that Sri Lanka did not call off 'combat operations' against the Tamil Tigers due to Indian pressure, and instead credited the move to 'world opinion'. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the Sri Lankan decision followed 'collective world opinion in which India was in the vanguard'.

April 17th, 2009 CHENNAI/NEW DELHI - Within hours of the Indian government urging Sri Lanka to extend a limited ceasefire to enable trapped civilians to move to safer areas, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Friday said that India should sever all ties with the island nation if it does not announce an immediate ceasefire.

April 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid criticism that it wasn't doing enough to influence Sri Lanka, India Friday made it clear to Colombo that further civilian casualties in the war zone would be 'totally unacceptable'. Taking time off his election campaign, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also urged Sri Lanka to extend a limited ceasefire to enable the civilians trapped in the conflict zone to move to safe areas.

April 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With the humanitarian crisis aggravating in Sri Lanka, India Friday urged Colombo to extend the pause in hostilities to enable civilians trapped in the war zone to move to safe areas and made it clear that any further civilian casualties will be 'totally unacceptable'. 'The government of Sri Lanka must extend this pause in hostilities to prevent further casualties and enable trapped civilians to leave the area to secure locations,' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a hard-hitting statement here.

April 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Friday asked Sri Lanka to extend the pause in hostilities to help civilians trapped in the war zone to move to safe areas and said that any further civilian casualties will be 'totally unacceptable'. 'The government of Sri Lanka must extend this pause in hostilities to prevent further casualties and enable trapped civilians to leave the area to secure locations,' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement here.

April 17th, 2009 CHENNAI - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Friday said India should sever all ties with Sri Lanka if the island nation does not announce a ceasefire immediately.

April 17th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Government of India is clear that the cease-fire in the "No Fire" zone in Sri Lanka should continue in the interests of the Tamil citizens of that country, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here today. Addressing a press conference, Mukherjee said India is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka,and added that New Delhi has repeatedly expressed its concern over the safety of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka and sought to ensure safe passage to secure zones for the civilian population which has suffered a heavy toll in the ongoing conflict.

March 5th, 2009 GENEVA - The humanitarian situation in northeastern Sri Lanka has become 'extremely grim', a senior UN official in the Asian country said Wednesday. Gordon Wiess, the spokesman for the UN's operations in Sri Lanka warned that some 70,000 to 200,000 were trapped in a tiny enclave between a lagoon and the sea front, desperate for food, shelter and drinking water.

February 16th, 2009 KABUL - The UN said Tuesday that Afghan civilian deaths rose by 40 percent last year, to 2,118, the highest toll in the country since the fall of Taliban regime in late 2001. Taliban insurgents were responsible for 55 percent, or 1,160, of the overall death toll while Afghan and international forces killed 828 civilians, or 39 percent, the UN said in its annual report.

February 11th, 2009 CHENNAI - Protests continued Thursday against civilian deaths in Sri Lanka, which have been dominating politics in Tamil Nadu for the past month. Students and lawyers staged demonstrations in various pockets of the state while over 10,000 fishermen in Rameshwaram, 600 km south of here, announced an indefinite strike agitating against alleged killings of Tamils by Sri Lankan forces.

February 5th, 2009 LONDON - Britain has said the recent repeated bombing of a civilian hospital in Sri Lanka is 'unacceptable' and called for an investigation into it. 'To put it bluntly, the situation in Sri Lanka is nothing short of shocking,' Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Rammell told the British parliament Thursday.

January 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Diaspora groups of Sri Lankan Tamils have condemned both Colombo and the Tamil Tigers for the civilian deaths caused by war in the island nation's north. In a joint statement, the organisations accused the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of having 'callous disregard for the safety and welfare of civilians trapped in the crossfire in Mullaitivu'.