DMK chief M Karunanidhi-led Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation (Teso), a pro-Tamil body revived recently, on Saturday said it was “worrisome” to know the different stands being taken by the federal government and the Congress on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue and warned it may not be able to watch such attitude in silence.

“The different stands being taken by Congress and the federal government every day on the Eelam issue is worrisome. A situation is being created where such attitudes cannot be watched silently,” Teso said in a statement.

While India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid did not say anything concrete on the US-sponsored resolution in the UNHRC following which DMK, the BJP and some other parties walked out of Lok Sabha on March 7, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who had attended the Teso meeting in New Delhi had said India would back the US resolution, it said.

“However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while replying to the motion on the president’s address in Rajya Sabha did not give any assurance but only stressed for talks between Sri Lankan government and Tamil leaders (in that country),” it said.

The Colombo government must “take the initiative to talk to the Tamil leadership in Sri Lanka”, Singh said in the speech.

Singh, whose government is wary of alienating Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa and hurting its commercial interests on the island, where China has made big inroads, kept mum on whether India will back the US motion.

But the prime minister warned that “without national reconciliation, the situation cannot remain calm” in Sri Lanka.

India is “worried about the fate of Tamil people” on the island, Singh said.

The Teso also made it clear it would not compromise on its stand, vis-à-vis Sri Lankan Tamils issue. The organisation has been among others, pressing for India supporting US at UNHRC.

“Therefore, to exert further pressure on the federal government, the March 12 general strike will happen at any cost,” the statement sent from the DMK headquarters said while calling for all-round support.

Teso was revived recently by Karunanidhi and the Congress ally backed outfit has been staging protests against the federal government on the Lankan Tamils issue, even calling for a general strike on March 12.

Agencies