Pro-LTTE groups target Lankan academic at seminar
Close on the heels of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa
writing to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking to discourage
frequent visits of Sri Lankan delegates to Tamil Nadu, activists of
various pro-LTTE movements disrupted an international conference and
forced the organisers to send away a Sri Lankan academic, on Thursday.
The members of Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam, May 17 Movement, Sri Lankan
Tamils Protection Federation, as well as MDMK cadres barged
into the conference venue at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU)
and protested against the participation of Jeeva Niriella, faculty of
law, lecturer, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in the three-day
international conference on 'Exploring Linkage Between Drug Usage and
Criminal Victimisation' organised by the department of criminology.
This is the second such incident of a Sri Lankan visitor facing a
protest by pro-Tamil outfits. In January this year, Thirukumaran
Nadesan, husband of Nirupama Rajapaksa, niece of Sri Lankan president
Mahinda Rajapaksa's suffered an even harsher treatment when slippers
were hurled at him in Rameswaram where he visited to offer prayers in
the temple.
This time around, the agitators, about 20 of them, entered the hall
during the afternoon session of the conference posing as participants
and started raising slogans against Sri Lanka. They also held placards
demanding Jeeva to leave India as well as accusing Sri Lanka of
genocide."Jeeva Niriella was visibly shocked by the sudden development.
We were also taken aback. Since we thought that the safety and security
of the delegate was important, we took her out of the venue through
another exit. We then told the protesters that she was sent and that she
would not participate in any of the sessions for the rest of the
conference," said a faculty from the university. The protesters then
left the spot. No police complaint has been lodged by the organisers,
but disbelief and shock was writ large.
However, earlier in the day, Jeeva had addressed the participants of
the conference on 'Women and Justice' and said that Sri Lanka was
achieving a lot in women empowerment. Jeeva noted that Lanka had the
first woman prime minister. She also said that the country's present
Chief Justice was a woman. Even during her address, she was confronted
by a participant who questioned her claims of women empowerment by
alleging that international NGOs have reported that crimes were
perpetrated on women in large scale. While Jeeva maintained silence,
another delegate came to her rescue and answered the query, Times of
India reports.
Times of India |