BackPro-Eelam outfits give dawn-to-dusk bandh call on Tuesday
About 20 pro-Eelam outfits demanded Tamil Nadu govt declare a bandh on 12 Nov boycotting Commonwealth meet in Sri Lanka
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Chennai: India’s participation in the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) has triggered protests in Tamil Nadu and some pro-Eelam outfits have given for a day-long bandh call on Tuesday demanding complete boycott of the meet.
About 20 pro-Eelam outfits including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), have demanded the state government declare a bandh on 12 November scaling up pressure on the Centre.
“May 17 Movement", Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, CPI have been observing rail blockades demanding total boycott of CHOGM by India in the last few days.
On Monday, members of Communist Party staged a rail-roko in places like Nagercoil, Madurai, Rajapalayam and also in Chennai demanding that India totally boycott the meet in Colombo, sources said.
Similarly, about 60 members of another pro-Tamil outfit were detained in North Chennai for allegedly trying to burn an effigy of external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, who will lead a delegation from India for CHOGM.
MDMK leader Vaiko who had earlier asked the traders to shut shops on Monday seeking their support, in a statement urged the student community to participate in the bandh.
“I appeal to the students to participate in tomorrow’s agitation. I will lead the rail-roko at Madurai railway station," he said.
While the main opposition parties in Tamil Nadu are yet to announce their stand on the bandh, the government has convened an emergent session of the state assembly, apparently to take a view on India taking part in CHOGM.
The assembly last month had passed a “unanimous" resolution demanding that India “completely boycott" CHOGM.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M. Karunanidhi had welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision to skip the CHOGM, in view of opposition by political parties in Tamil Nadu, and said it came as “some consolation".
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