Chennai, Jan. 28 : The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) criticized the Center over External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee''s visit to Colombo after the Sri Lankan army''s successful operation against the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).

Hundreds of MDMK activists took to streets here to protest against the Sri Lankan military's offensive against the Tamil rebels.

MDMK's general secretary Y. Gopalaswamy(Vaiko), while criticizing Mukherjee's visit to Sri Lanka said that he (Mukherjee) had actually gone to Colombo to participate in the victory celebrations of the Sri Lankan government over the Tamil rebels.

Blaming the Center for conspiring with the Sri Lankan government for waging a war against Tamils in Northern Province of the island nation, Vaiko urged the Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to stop the offensive against innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka.

"He (Mahinda Rajapaksa) should stop the killings, unless he stops the killings, he stops the bombardment, he has no right to speak about the Tamils," Vaiko said.

Similar protest was also witnessed in Coimbatore, where scores of MDMK activists staged a demonstration and shouted slogans against the Center and Sri Lankan governments. (ANI)