TNA MP denied entry to Rameswaran festival

11 September 2013 10:46 am

TNA Batticaloa district MP Seeniththam by Yoheswaran on Tuesday claimed he was denied permission to participate in a Ganesh Chathurthi procession in Rameswaran, India.

Yoheswaran told reporters in Rameswaran that police, citing prohibitory orders, did not permit him to participate in the function organised by Hindu Makkal Katchi, supporters of Sri Lankan Tamils.

He, however, said he was allowed to offer prayers at the temple here.

Yoheswaran said he would meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and convey his dismay at not being allowed to participate in the procession.

He said it was distressing to note that the Lankan government, which had got the islet of Katchatheevu as a 'gift', was not permitting Indian fishermen to fish in the area.

Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka by India in the 1970s.

The MP described the north and eastern provinces of Lanka as the "hereditary and traditional dwelling place of Tamils" and alleged the island nation's Army had been deployed in full strength in both provinces, violating the Indo-Sri Lanka accord of 1987.

He said elections to these provinces would be held and retired judge Vigneswaran would participate in it. (PTI)