Indian Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday said the attack on an Army convoy in Coimbatore by a group was a “dangerous trend” that needed to be viewed seriously.

“A few divisive and violent outfits such as naxalites, which remained subsided in the State for the last 20 years, have once again begun their activities. They have even boldly attacked the Army. The people should understand that this is a dangerous trend. These disruptive elements were almost under control so far.”

Mr. Chidambaram said the State and Union governments should treat this incident as “alarming and as a warning” given to them.

Asked whether there was a need to ban outfits such as Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam and others, he said, “Since I am a Home Minister, I don’t want to comment on that. But as a responsible citizen and member of a political party, I warn the people that this is a dangerous trend. The people should realise this.”

“Yes” was the answer when he was asked whether the recent speeches of AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue was igniting these elements.

To a query on Ms. Jayalalithaa’s vow to create a separate Eelam to solve the long pending issue of Tamils by sending armed forces like India’s role on creation of Bangladesh, Mr. Chidambaram said the Congress had stated that her statement on separate Eelam was highly irresponsible and anti-national. She did not know the history of how Bangladesh was created in 1971. She should study the circumstances that led to the creation of Bangaladesh, he added.

On alleged reports of Sri Lanka’s armed forces continuing attacks in the north even after the announcement that it would halt combat operations using heavy weapons, Mr. Chidambaram said he had information that the in-depth combat operations had come to an end. They had stopped using aerial attack and heavy weapons.

Asked about the criticism of Opposition parties that the Union government had failed to take effective steps to stop the war in Sri Lanka, he said that it had taken all effective steps that a neighbouring country could take to bring to an end a war in another country.

There were still a lot of people trapped in the conflict zone. Indian diplomats were working to rescue them safely. A lot more had to be done, he said.

“The LTTE must surrender by accepting the call given by the Sri Lanka government. India wanted every Tamil group in Sri Lanka, including the LTTE, to come to the negotiating table to find an amicable solution”.