In a bid to woo the Tamil voters ahead of Lok Sabha elections in the state, DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has called for a bandh in his own state. The Tamil Nadu bandh will be observed tomorrow to protest against the violence in Sri Lanka. Karunanidhi also issued a notice to Centre to give an ultimatum to Sri Lanka to declare an "immediate and permanent ceasefire".

Just a couple of days ago, Karrunanidhi had backtracked from his support to LTTE and termed the outfit as a terrorist organization. He had said that it would not be possible to forget Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, which was carried out by the LTTE in 1991.
The Sri Lankan government is all set to launch a final assault against the LTTE after the deadline given to Prabhakaran and his associated to surrender. Over 35,000 people are said to be trapped in the war zone, while over 60,000 reportedly escaped to safer places. Even the United States has expressed its helplessness over the situation.

Karunanidhi, who expressed concerns over the plight of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, has already sent telegrams to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, putting pressure on them to act on this issue.