In Sri Lanka, hundreds of minority Tamils staged a rally in northern Jaffna town to demand a federal constitution and to merge minority-dominated Northern and Eastern Provinces. It will culminate in a public meeting where prominent Tamil leaders including Chief Minister of northern province C.V. Wigneswaran are to address the gathering later in the day. The rally is being organised by all constituent parties of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) except Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) led by opposition leader V. Sampanthan. <br/><br/>The latter has opposed the rally on the grounds that it will alienate moderate Sinhalese both in the government and outside, and will stall the all-important constitution-drafting process which is now on. Organisers said the rally aims to create awareness among the Tamils and to put pressure on the government in Colombo to expedite the implementation of the promises it made to the Tamils at the time of the Presidential and parliamentary elections held last year. <br/><br/>They said there has been a lot of talk about the government's doing one thing or the other, but there has been very little progress on the ground. Tamil political leadership has got divided in recent years with the Parliament opposition leader V. Sampanthan adopting a soft approach and trying to work with Sri Lankan leadership while a faction led by Chief Minister of northern province C.V. Wigneswaran demanding quick actions and federal set up in the new constitution to be framed.