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Sri Lankan government tells citizens to avoid visiting Tamil Nadu
TNN | Sep 4, 2012, 12.01AM IST
CHENNAI: The Sri Lankan government has issued an advisory asking its citizens to refrain from visiting Tamil Nadu until further notice. This follows what Colombo described as an increasing number of incidents of intimidation of its nationals.
The immediate provocation for the advisory appeared to be Monday's incident outside a church in Thanjavur in central Tamil Nadu where 200 Lankan pilgrims were mobbed by cadres of some political parties and Tamil outfits, forcing them to take refuge inside the shrine. A report from Thanjavur said police had assured the pilgrims full protection and told them that they were free to stay inside the church as long as they wanted. The parties which took part in the protest included Vaiko's MDMK and the VCK, a DMK ally.
The Sri Lankan advisory said the government has taken all steps required through the Indian government to ensure the safety of the pilgrims. However, the timing of the advisory, just a day after chief minister J Jayalalithaa suspended an official at the Nehru stadium here for permitting a football team from Sri Lanka to play a friendly match, triggered debate over the impact on bilateral trade and tourism.
"The government of Sri Lanka regrets the increasing number of instances of intimidation of its nationals visiting Tamil Nadu for the purposes of tourism, pilgrimage, sporting and cultural activities and professional training. These visits are a reflection of people to people contact between the polity of two countries which are bound by age-old friendly ties and traditions," the advisory said.
Those who have a compelling reason to visit Tamil Nadu, should inform the deputy high commission in Chennai, it said. Such an advisory has been resorted to by India as well after its traders were hijacked over debt disputes in the commercial hub of Yiwu in China in May this year.
Major political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the ruling AIADMK, have made repeated demands to stop training programmes for Sri Lankan defence personnel in India. Jayalalithaa has written several letters to the Prime Minister on the issue. The alleged attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy have also come in for flak by TN's political parties and pro-Tamil outfits, who demanded that the Centre take steps to stop the aggression.
Since January this year there have been at least three incidents of political and Tamil outfits heckling and assaulting visiting dignitaries from Sri Lanka. Protestors hurled footwear at Thirukumaran Nadesan, husband of Nirupama Rajapaksa, who is the niece of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he visited Rameswaram to offer prayers at the temple in January. In March, the MDMK and Tamil outfits disrupted an international conference at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli and forced the organisers to send away a Sri Lankan academic, Jeeva Niriella. Later, in June, the Sri Lankan agriculture minister Reginald Cooray had to cut short his Coimbatore visit when he was informed by police that several groups were planning to stage a protest in front of his hotel.
Sri Lankan government tells citizens to avoid visiting Tamil Nadu - The Times of India
TNN | Sep 4, 2012, 12.01AM IST
CHENNAI: The Sri Lankan government has issued an advisory asking its citizens to refrain from visiting Tamil Nadu until further notice. This follows what Colombo described as an increasing number of incidents of intimidation of its nationals.
The immediate provocation for the advisory appeared to be Monday's incident outside a church in Thanjavur in central Tamil Nadu where 200 Lankan pilgrims were mobbed by cadres of some political parties and Tamil outfits, forcing them to take refuge inside the shrine. A report from Thanjavur said police had assured the pilgrims full protection and told them that they were free to stay inside the church as long as they wanted. The parties which took part in the protest included Vaiko's MDMK and the VCK, a DMK ally.
The Sri Lankan advisory said the government has taken all steps required through the Indian government to ensure the safety of the pilgrims. However, the timing of the advisory, just a day after chief minister J Jayalalithaa suspended an official at the Nehru stadium here for permitting a football team from Sri Lanka to play a friendly match, triggered debate over the impact on bilateral trade and tourism.
"The government of Sri Lanka regrets the increasing number of instances of intimidation of its nationals visiting Tamil Nadu for the purposes of tourism, pilgrimage, sporting and cultural activities and professional training. These visits are a reflection of people to people contact between the polity of two countries which are bound by age-old friendly ties and traditions," the advisory said.
Those who have a compelling reason to visit Tamil Nadu, should inform the deputy high commission in Chennai, it said. Such an advisory has been resorted to by India as well after its traders were hijacked over debt disputes in the commercial hub of Yiwu in China in May this year.
Major political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the ruling AIADMK, have made repeated demands to stop training programmes for Sri Lankan defence personnel in India. Jayalalithaa has written several letters to the Prime Minister on the issue. The alleged attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy have also come in for flak by TN's political parties and pro-Tamil outfits, who demanded that the Centre take steps to stop the aggression.
Since January this year there have been at least three incidents of political and Tamil outfits heckling and assaulting visiting dignitaries from Sri Lanka. Protestors hurled footwear at Thirukumaran Nadesan, husband of Nirupama Rajapaksa, who is the niece of Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he visited Rameswaram to offer prayers at the temple in January. In March, the MDMK and Tamil outfits disrupted an international conference at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli and forced the organisers to send away a Sri Lankan academic, Jeeva Niriella. Later, in June, the Sri Lankan agriculture minister Reginald Cooray had to cut short his Coimbatore visit when he was informed by police that several groups were planning to stage a protest in front of his hotel.
Sri Lankan government tells citizens to avoid visiting Tamil Nadu - The Times of India
