Congress favours ‘cessation of hostility’ in Sri Lanka

May 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Welcoming the cessation of fighting in Sri Lanka, the US has asked Colombo 'to heal the wounds of the conflict' by working out new power sharing arrangements with the Tamils, Sinhalese, and all other Sri Lankans. 'To truly defeat terrorism, the government of Sri Lanka needs to begin and work toward building a democratic, prosperous, tolerant and united Sri Lanka and work toward justice and reconciliation for both sides,' State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Tuesday.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Indian government has sought details from Sri Lanka about the military action in which LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed, the ruling Congress party said Monday. 'It is a very sensitive issue.

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 27th, 2009 CHENNAI - AIADMK chief Jayalalitha Monday reiterated her demand for an independent Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, even as Colombo announced the end of its combat operations against the Tamil Tigers and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi called off his fast.

April 25th, 2009 COIMBATORE - Coimbatore Police on Saturday arrested eight protesters for trying to burn the Sri Lankan flag. Hordes of Tamilians were staging a demonstration against the Lankan military offensive, which has led to the deaths of innocent civilians in the island nation.

April 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India should mobilise international opinion and apply pressure on Sri Lanka to end the humanitarian crisis in the island nation, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said here Friday. 'India should rally international opinion and use pressure on Sri Lanka,' Karat told reporters here.

April 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Friday urged Sri Lanka to end its military offensive in order to save civilian lives and called upon the Tamil Tigers to give up 'its futile resistance'. The CPI-M politburo expressed 'deep concern' over the plight of thousands of Tamil civilians trapped in the war zone in northern Sri Lanka.

April 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid the growing humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka, India Thursday called for 'an immediate cessation of all hostilities' in the island and announced that it will send two special emissaries to Colombo. External affairs ministry official sources told IANS that the two Indian officials visiting the crisis-hit nation are National Security Advisor M.K.

April 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - With the killings of Tamil civilians continuing in Sri Lanka, India Thursday underlined the need for 'an immediate cessation of all hostilities' and announced that it will send two special emissaries to Colombo. 'We are very unhappy at the continued killing in Sri Lanka.

April 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress, India's main ruling party, Wednesday urged Sri Lanka to declare ceasefire to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the island nation and allow Tamil civilians to move out of the conflict zone. 'The Indian National Congress calls upon the Sri Lankan government to declare a ceasefire so that the humanitarian crisis can be resolved in a demonstrable way,' the party said in a statement.

April 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI/PATNA - With the Sri Lankan Army stepping up offensive against the LTTE that has vowed never to surrender, India Tuesday conveyed its concerns and appealed to Colombo to ensure the safe exit of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone. 'I have appealed to the Sri Lankan authorities to facilitate the return of civilians to a secure zone,' External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Patna.

April 21st, 2009 COLOMBO - Thousands of sick, injured and fatigued Tamil civilians fled Sri Lanka's shrunken war zone Tuesday in a heart rending 'human avalanche', but there was no trace of the elusive Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. Television footage showed men, women and children wearily walking out of a strip of land in coastal Mullaitivu district after troops poured into the last remaining base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a determined bid to crush a quarter century long separatist campaign.

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 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A majority of people in Tamil Nadu want the government to support the outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, according to an opinion poll. Asked if the government should support the LTTE in Sri Lanka, 66 percent respondents said yes, the NDTV said in a release Tuesday, revealing the findings of the opinion survey.

January 15th, 2009 CHENNAI - Foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon's ongoing Colombo trip to solve the ethnic minority's tangle in Sri Lanka is important from a Tamil Nadu perspective, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said here Friday.