New Delhi:
The DMK has pulled out of the Congress-led UPA coalition in protest against the government's position on a US-backed United Nations resolution on alleged war crimes carried out during Sri Lanka's civil war.
Here are 10 big developments in this story:
Though the DMK has pulled out, its chief M Karunanidhi said that he may reconsider if the Indian Parliament adopts a resolution before this week's Geneva session of the UN's top human rights body. The party has convened an emergency meet of its executive council on Monday to decide its further course of action.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the government has begun consulting all political parties about that "suggestion." Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said that the government is open to a debate and discussion on the Sri Lanka issue.
The DMK wants India to introduce stronger language, including the word "genocide" in the resolution against Sri Lanka in Geneva.
Mr Chidambaram said that the government is studying the draft of the US resolution to determine whether " amendments can be made to strengthen that resolution."
The DMK has 18 seats in the Lok Sabha and five ministers in the cabinet. The ruling UPA coalition is already in a minority, but the crucial external support of regional powerhouses Mayawati and Mualyam Singh Yadav means it is not in danger of collapse. (Govt safe: see the math)
The vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council session is scheduled for March 21-22.
Government sources indicate that while India is likely to ask for an independent inquiry against Sri Lanka, it cannot back the term "genocide" and may use "atrocities" instead in a parliamentary resolution or in amendments it may suggest in Geneva.
The US resolution does not ask for an international inquiry against Sri Lanka. The DMK says this is a "diluted" and unacceptable call-to-action. It wants an international, independent and time-bound investigation to study alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan forces against the island's minority Tamil population.
In what is being seen as an overture to the DMK, Congress president Sonia Gandhi told her MPs at a meeting this morning, "We are fully committed to the cause of Lankan Tamils and an impartial inquiry should happen into the allegations of atrocities against them."
After her speech, when the DMK announced it is quitting the government, Mrs Gandhi said, "I have nothing to say now."
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