Amid political turmoil in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) accusing the centre of not doing enough for the Sri Lankan Tamils, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) puts the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka to voting in Geneva on Thursday.
The resolution seeks Sri Lanka to promote reconciliation and accountability for the alleged crimes against the Tamil population in the war that ended in 2009.
UNHRC may be open to oral amendments before the resolution is put to vote.
India is in a fix with some political parties and Tamilians pressuring the government to take a tough stand in the matter. Some think New Delhi should keep restraint in the interest of its international relations. Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar had convened an all-party meeting to discuss the matter but no consensus was reached.
POSSIBLE DECISIONS INDIA WOULD TAKE
1) Vote in favour of the resolution, which means against Sri Lanka.
2) Seek amendment in the resolution to facilitate independent probe into the issue.
3) Vote in favour of the resolution but not seek amendment.
4) Vote in favour of the resolution but soften its stand like it did before. Last year, India had complied with the statement "in consultation with and with the concurrence of the Government of Sri Lanka" in the resolution.
5) Voting against the resolution could also happen but it is a remote possibility considering the present scenario in the country.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's attempt to bring about a resolution in the Sri Lankan issue took a beating at the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, with most of the opposition parties reluctant to take any 'country specific' resolution fearing negative implication on India in the future.
Meanwhile, the M Karunanidhi-led DMK party had withdrawn support to the UPA over its failure to amend the UN resolution against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes committed against the Tamils.
The DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have been demanding that the words "Eelam" and "genocide" be introduced in the UN resolution.
"The DMK has always worked for the Tamils and has been demanding a tough stance against the Sri Lankan government over war crimes against Tamils," Karunanidhi said while addressing a press conference in Chennai.
The state government has also shut down all the engineering colleges affiliated to Anna University owing to anti-Sri Lanka protests in the state. Students have been protesting since last week, demanding several measures against the island country, including an independent probe on human rights violations against Tamils and moving the International Court of Justice.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution against Sri Lanka for the alleged war crimes last year after India and 23 other countries voted in favour of the US-sponsored resolution. Fifteen voted against it while eight abstained from voting.
