By Joseph George
Published Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Indians visiting Sri Lanka will be treated with respect and there would
be no intimidation of the visitors during the upcoming T20 Cricket World Cup,
said a senior diplomat in the UAE.
“The T20 Cricket World Cup is scheduled in Sri Lanka and we are expecting
a lot of Indians to come and watch the matches there. We welcome tourists and
visitors from India as well as Tamil Nadu and provide all hospitality. There
should not be any concern among them,” said Abdul Raheem, Sri Lanka’s Consul
General for Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
Indian cricket fans going to Sri Lanka to watch T20 Cricket World Cup
fear retaliation and intimidation following attack on Sri Lankan nationals in
Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Monday. Sri Lanka's government asked its citizens
not to travel to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu until further notice
because of increasing intimidation of Sri Lankans.
The warning from the external affairs ministry follows an incident on
Monday in which 184 Sri Lankan pilgrims were mobbed and had to seek refuge in
the church.
“There have been several instances of Sri Lankans being attacked in
India in the past as well. It is really unfortunate. We need to protect the
interests of our people. However, it should be noted that the government has
not banned Sri Lankans travelling to India. It is a travel warning,” he told
Emirates 24l7 in an interview on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Roshan Pereira a Sri Lankan national living in Dubai said
Tamils have a strong animosity towards Sri Lankans, which is further fuelled by
political parties in Tamil Nadu.
“It is high time the two communities learn to respect each other.
Otherwise the problem is going to only escalate. We as a country have suffered
for several decades because of sectarian issues. We want to leave the past and
move on,” he said.
The T20 Cricket World Cup will start in Sri Lanka on September 18.
