By TN Gopalan BBC Tamil Service, Chennai

	CM describes the conflict in Sri Lanka as a "genocidal war"

The CM has called upon the people to urge PM Manmohan Singh to press for an immediate cease-fire in Sri Lanka.

In a statement, Karunanidhi charged it was a genocidal war that was going on in the island nation and that only cease-fire could bring some relief to the the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

In the circumstances, the CM urged, the federal government's actions should not be hampered by resentment over some undesirable events of the past, apparently referring to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by Tamil Tiger rebels in 1991.

Karunanidhi wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to treat the statement as an SOS alert, as a matter of extreme urgency and act accordingly.

Political pressure from the opposition in the state is mounting for Indian intervention on the ground that it is the civilians who are the worst affected because of the aggressive approach of the Rajapaksa government.