Agencies
New Delhi, Feb 18: Angry MPs of the MDMK and PMK created uproar in the Lok Sabha Wednesday in support of Sri Lankan Tamils, forcing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn the house for 25 minutes.
Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the LTTE had caused "much damage" to the Tamil community and that it should lay down arms as there is a political opportunity after 23 years to restore normalcy in northern parts of the island nation.
Making a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Mukherjee said India remains concerned over the safety and welfare of civilians, most of them Tamils, caught in the conflict and is ready to facilitate their evacuation.
He underlined that full implementation of the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution, which entails devolution of powers, would be a significant first step towards bringing about a political settlement to the issue.
"India continues to support a negotiated political settlement in Sri Lanka within the framework of an undivided Sri Lanka acceptable to all the communities, including the Tamil community," he said.
"The LTTE remains a proscribed organisation in India and has done much damage to the Tamil community," Mukherjee said in the statement over which members of MDMK and PMK expressed unhappiness and forced two adjournments of the House by creating uproarious scenes.
The MPs, wearing black shirts, shouted slogans and walked up to the well of the house expressing their protest against External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's suo motu statement in the house over the Sri Lankan situation.
"Stop the war in Sri Lanka" and "we are not satisfied with the statement" (of the minister) were among the slogans.
The two parties' MPs were also backed by Tamil members of some other parties.
The members also shouted that the Indian government should interfere for a "permanent ceasefire" to save Tamil civilians.
The Indian government, he added, "is ready to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the area of conflict, working with the government of Sri Lanka and the ICRC".