Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President Karunanidhi today went on a sudden fast early this morning demanding ceasefire in Sri Lanka and called it off after six hours once the island government announced that combat operations have concluded.
"The fast has come to an end in view of the fact that the Sri Lankan government has announced an end to the war," said Karunanidhi reading from a statement from a bed at the fast site at the Anna memorial on the shores of Marina. The 85-year-old leader called off the fast at 1230 hrs, six hours after he began it demanding an immediate end to the ongoing war in Sri Lanka where he said innocent Tamils were being killed.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Sri Lankan government's statement meant that it is end and cessation of hostilities which Indian interlocutors had been urging. Karunanidhi's announcement was hailed by the huge crowd of DMK activists gathered near the memorial to late C N Annadurai. The DMK workers had been shouting slogans urging him to withdraw his fast. The fast also undertaken by leaders and workers of the state was also called off.
