India and conflict in Sri Lanka

AS the armed forces of Sri Lanka in their current offensive close in on the last stronghold of (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) LTTE, feelings of unease and discomfort have begun to run high in New Delhi about its impact on India's Tamil population of southern states, especially Tamil Nadu.
In Tamil Nadu parties on both sides of political divide and organisations of civil society joined by artists, intellectuals, writers and human rights activists have loudly protested against what they allege the violations of human rights of the Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sri Lankan armed forces and the failure of the Union Government to restrain Colombo from causing hardships to the civilians in the Tamil controlled areas. Although both India and Sri Lanka are trying their best to avoid any crisis that may erupt between them as in the past, the latest phase of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is bound to have serious repercussions on their bilateral relations.
Although LTTE has been declared a terrorist organisation and banned in more than thirty countries, including India, the outfit continues to enjoy support and sympathy in Tamil Nadu where it used to operate bases for recruitment and training of cadre and collected vast sums of money. Following LTTE's hand in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi while he was touring the state for Lok Sabha elections in May 1991, India banned the militant organisation but groundswells of its support and supplies have not dried up in the state.
Common ethnic links continue to bind the Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils together and the current outburst of protest in Tamil Nadu shows how close and immediate affect can the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka have on politics in Tamil Nadu lying across a narrow stretch of water from the Tamil dominated northern part of Sri Lanka. Majority of the state political parties have reacted strongly against the on-going military operation against LTTE, although the Congress, AIDMK and CPI-M maintain their opposition to the terrorist tactics of LTTE. But the wave of anger sweeping across the state has forced other political parties, including Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's DMK to take a position calling for immediate stoppage of the military operation in Sri Lanka and allow free access to the Sri Lankan Tamil community to humanitarian assistance sent from India and other sources.
In order to put pressure on the government of PM Manmohan Singh to intervene and persuade the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to halt military operation against LTTE, an all-party meeting was held in Chennai on October 14. A resolution passed at the meeting asked all the members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu to resign from their seats if the Union Government did not come forward to ensure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka within two weeks after the passage of the resolution. Tamil Nadu sends 39 members to Lok Sabha. Had the threat been carried out, it would have reduced the UPA Government into a minority government because last July it had survived a no-confidence motion by a margin of only 19 votes. Other resolutions passed at the meeting demanded that the military hardware by India to Sri Lanka not be used against the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Centre intervene immediately to stop what the resolution called "the killing of innocent Tamils."