Political parties from across the political spectrum announced plans for mass agitation in support of the Eelam cause and demanded the central government to intervene immediately to stop the ongoing war in the neighbouring island.
Even as Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) general secretary Thol Thirumavalavan called off his indefinite fast for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka
on Sunday, January 18 evening, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr S Ramadoss called for an indefinite hartal in Tamil Nadu.
"Tamil Nadu will come to a standstill. Except basic services like milk and health, nothing should move in the state. Until the Centre intervenes to effect a ceasefire in Sri Lanka, the state will be paralysed,'' Ramadoss said after Thirumavalavan gave up his fast in Maraimalainagar in the city suburbs.
As chief minister M Karunanidhi had requested his allies to find ways to end the ethnic cleansing of Lankan Tamils, the PMK founder came up with the idea of a hartal and appealed to Karunanidhi to participate not as chief minister but as DMK president.
"Tamil Nadu will come to a standstill. Except basic services like milk and health, nothing should move in the state. Until the Centre intervenes to effect a ceasefire in Sri Lanka, the state will be paralysed,'' Ramadoss said after Thirumavalavan gave up his fast in Maraimalainagar in the city suburbs.
As chief minister M Karunanidhi had requested his allies to find ways to end the ethnic cleansing of Lankan Tamils, the PMK founder came up with the idea of a hartal and appealed to Karunanidhi to participate not as chief minister but as DMK president.
"If Karunanidhi comes up with a better idea, we will follow it,'' he said.
Earlier, Thirumavalavan announced that the VCK would not have any truck with the Congress in the state.
Earlier, Thirumavalavan announced that the VCK would not have any truck with the Congress in the state.
Describing the party as utterly unhelpful for the Tamil cause, he vowed to work tirelessly to eliminate Congress from the state.
Meanwhile, the MDMK announced it would hold State-wide demonstrations on January 28 to protest against the central Indian and Tamil Nadu governments for not bringing about a ceasefire in the north of Sri Lanka where the island military and the LTTE are engaged in a war.
In a statement, MDMK chief Vaiko said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was yet to undertake his visit to Sri Lanka to hold talks with the island government as assured by the Centre to an all-party delegation led by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in December last year.
He said the Tamil Nadu government was equally doing nothing to pressure the Centre and therefore workers of MDMK, an ally of AIADMK, would stage demonstrations condemning the State and Central governments at district headquarters on January 28.
