New Delhi, September 4, 2012
PTI
Special Arrangement Members of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)
being arrested after they staged a demonstration against the presence of Sri
Lankan defence officers at a training programme in Wellington on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankan government’s move follows a travel advisory against
visits to Tamil Nadu. Even as India assured that all measures would be taken
for the safety of Sri Lankans, a group of pilgrims in Tamil Nadu faced protests
for the second day
The Sri Lankan government is arranging a special plane on Tuesday to fly
out visiting pilgrims following protests in Tamil Nadu even as India assured
that all measures would be taken to ensure safety and security of Sri Lankans
in the country. A spokesperson for the External Affairs Ministry said the
Centre was in “close consultation” with the concerned state governments
regarding this.
Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner R K M A Rajakaruna told PTI that the
group would be leaving on Tuesday. “We get reports that some people follow the
pilgrims group, intimidate, abuse and even attack them with stones,” he said.
The Sri Lankan government evaluated the situation as the people
“appealed to us to arrange to send them back to Sri Lanka,” he said. “We
thought it would be advisable to arrange their quick eviction from here,” the envoy
said.
Meanwhile a batch of 178 Sri Lankan nationals on a pilgrimage in Tamil
Nadu faced protests for the second day today with a pro-Tamil outfit trying to
block their vehicles when they were returning after offering worship at the
famous Velankanni shrine near Nagapattinam.
Police, however, intervened swiftly by arresting nine activists of the
Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam with pro-LTTE leanings, who tried to block the seven
buses carrying the pilgrims. The Lankan nationals faced similar protests during
their pilgrimage to the Poondi Madha Christian shrine near Thanjavur on Monday.
The Indian government’s assurance follows the travel advisory issued by
Sri Lanka asking its citizens not to visit Tamil Nadu until further notice in
the wake of “increasing number of instances of intimidation” of Sri Lankans
there.
“I wish to convey here that the Government of India, in close
consultation with the concerned state governments, has taken and will continue
to take all measures to ensure the safety, security and well-being of Sri
Lankan dignitaries and visitors to India, including to Tamil Nadu,” an official
spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said when asked about the
advisory by Sri Lanka.
The spokesperson also said, “In certain instances, it has been noticed
that important visits have taken place without prior intimation to the
concerned authorities.”
Emphasising that people-to-people contacts are an integral part of the
close historical, cultural, ethnic and civilisational ties between India and
Sri Lanka, he said, “Our High Commission in Colombo issued visas to nearly
200,000 Sri Lankan nationals to visit India last year, while approximately
175,000 Indian tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2011. “It is this perspective that
guides all our actions on such matters.”
The Lankan travel advisory says, “the government of Sri Lanka regrets
the increasing number of instances of intimidation of its nationals visiting
Tamil Nadu for the purposes of tourism, religious pilgrimages, sporting and
cultural activities and professional training.”
The government here is constrained to request Sri Lankan nationals in
the interest of their security to desist from undertaking visits to Tamil Nadu
until further notice, it said.