10 May 2010 10:29 am
Vallipuram Parvathi, 80, who suffers from paralysis, had been denied entry to India on arrival and deported back to Malaysia by immigration officials in April.
The government has now agreed to grant a six-month conditional visa, communicated in a letter to the Indian mission in Kuala Lumpur, PTI news agency reported.
Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi told the state assembly that authorities had allowed the visit for the purpose of medical treatment, the report said.
Karunanidhi said Parvathi would be required to confine herself to the hospital only. He also said she could opt for treatment in a government hospital, arranged by state officials.
But she would not be allowed to have any contact with anyone from political parties or banned organizations, Karunanidhi said.
After Parvathi's deportation in April, some political parties in Tamil Nadu had lobbied on her behalf in the state assembly but the chief minister denied any knowledge about her visit at the time.
India has more than 60 million Tamils, most of whom live in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which is separated from northern Sri Lanka by a narrow stretch of sea.
Parvathi had left Sri Lanka for Malaysia after the death of her husband, Tiruvekkdam Velupillai, in military custody in January.
On May 18, Sri Lanka announced that rebel commander Prabhakaran had been killed while trying to escape advancing troops in the northern part of the country.
Two days earlier, the government had declared victory in Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war.