The government has given promises to the TNA and the UN, said TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran.

Commenting on the ongoing fast by 223 Tamil inmates of prisons countrywide, he has told BBC Sandeshaya that stern action would be taken if the promise was not met within the next few days.

Cases against them have been filed under the PTA, which the government has promised at the UNHRC to abolish, said Sumanthiran.

He asked as to why these prisoners could not be released if nearly 12,000 who had fought for the LTTE had been freed after rehabilitation.

In a letter to the president, north chief minister C.V. Vigneswaran too, has asked for the immediate release of the fasting prisoners.