Tamil student ends Parliament Square hunger strike

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 30th Apr 2009

Parameswaran accepting glass of orange juice from Simon Hughes

A Tamil student who has been on hunger strike in protest at the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka was today persuaded to accept a glass of orange juice from Simon Hughes.

Thousands of Tamil civilians have been caught up in a war between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil rebels. The Sri Lankan Government's recent push to defeat the rebels has brought an increased ferocity to the fighting in the last few weeks. It is estimated that 190,000 civilians have fled the area and 50,000 remain trapped in the Tamil region, creating a devastating humanitarian crisis.

Parameswaran Subramanyam, 28, had refused any food for 24 days until action was taken to stop the deepening crisis in which he has lost many of his friends and family. Simon had successfully persuaded his colleague to give up a similar protest by securing meetings between Tamil students and representatives of the EU and US administrations.

The efforts of politicians and Tamil elders to persuade Parameswaran to accept food became more urgent as his health deteriorated this week. After frequent visits from Simon Hughes and other MPs and a letter from David Miliband, the student decided to end his hunger strike, to the great relief of all involved. At noon today, Parameswaran officially ended his protest by accepting a glass of orange juice from Mr Hughes.

Mr Hughes said that Parameswaran was "exceptionally brave" and had "earned the respect not just of the Tamil community around the world but of millions of people in this country".