Tamil politicians threaten resignation from Indian govt

16/10/2008 14:14:21

A group of politicians from southern India have threatened to quit the central government, unless New Delhi intervenes to halt what they call atrocities against fellow Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The 38 deputies from Tamil Nadu are allies of India's ruling Congress party, and their resignations could threaten the stability of the national government.

They are urging the government to take immediate steps to stop the war that has been ravaging the island for three decades, claiming several thousand lives.

Sri Lanka's ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government is engaged in one of its biggest ever offensives against the Tamil Tigers, who control part of the north of the island and want to carve out a separate state.

The Sri Lankan government says it has killed around 7,500 Tamil Tigers since January, when it pulled out of a Norwegian-backed truce.

The United Nations says 230,000 people have been displaced in the recent wave of fighting.

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