Pro LTTE Politicians urged Anthony to end military support to Sri Lanka

'We told him that the Indian government needed to respect Tamil people sentiments. Now that the Government of Sri Lanka has rejected the ceasefire it signed with the LTTE, India should stop helping Sri Lanka militarily' - Mani
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(February 08, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony was urged by a group of pro- LTTE Indian Tamil politicians on Thursday to end military support to Sri Lanka, saying it was worsening the situation to the Tamils in the Country.

Pro- LTTE, the Periyar Dravida Kazhagam leader Kolathur Mani, General Secretaries Rajendran, Ramakrishnan and Legal council Thurisamy met with Defence Minister A.K. Antony at his residence at 10.15 this morning.

After the meeting Mani said that Antony heard carefully what his delegation had to say but he made no commitment, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu political leader said.

'We told him that the Indian government needed to respect Tamil people sentiments. Now that the Government of Sri Lanka has rejected the ceasefire it signed with the LTTE , India should stop helping Sri Lanka militarily,' Mani further said.

'India should only work towards a political solution in Sri Lanka,' he added. 'The land of Mahatma Gandhi should not be seen as providing arms to the land of Lord Buddha.'

Mani said his delegation also showed Antony 10,000 of the one million signatures collected mainly in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry urging India to end its wide-ranging military backing to Sri Lanka.

Image: Morethan Two hundreds activists of the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) marched towards the Indian Parliament Wednesday morning demanding the Indian Government to immediately stop military aid and assistance to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL).

Mani's comments came a day after he led a demonstration in the Indian capital in support of the same demand .Less than 300 people were attained with the demonstrations. Most of the protestors were from Tamil Nadu, a few from Mumbai and New Delhi, according to media reports.