Tigers' Vennila gang provoke gang warfare in Paris

Paris: Vennila, a ruthless pro - Tamil Tiger gang operating in Paris, Minnal and Mukkala, the rival Tamil gang, are at the centre of the current wave of Tamil violence raging in Paris.

According to French sources, the car festival (Ther) of the Paris Manikka Vinayagar Temple located in Marks Dormey, in La Chappelle, Paris 10 took place on September 02.

The temple belongs to Santhirasekeran, and the Tigers were opposed, right from the beginning, to the way he conducts the affairs of the temple, resisting Tiger pressures to bring under their control.

Though this temple is housed in a very small place, nearly 200 meters away from the Mari Amman temple owned and managed by the Tigers, the annual car festival of the temple is a most popular event in Paris.

The temple deity is taken in the car in the morning through the streets of La Chappelle known as 'little Jaffna', where there are more than 120 Sri Lankan shops and business premises, and winds its way through Marcadet Poissoniers, Paris 18, where more than 15 Tamils shops are located and return to the temple in the afternoon by 4 PM.

It is like the Vel Festival in Colombo where the merchants en route pay their tributes to the Hindu deities. The popularity of this chariot festival has prompted the local municipality to offer a bigger land for the construction of a new temple.

Reports revealed that from the very early hours of Sunday morning Vennila gang members were seen roaming around the temple and later following the chariot procession. While the procession was wending its way "Asian Tribune" learnt that Vennila gang picked up a fight with Mukkala gang and a member of the Vennila gang was stabbed by a member of the Mukkala gang.

- Asian Tribune