Even as Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon landed in Colombo to discuss the touchy issue of Sri Lankan Tamils caught in the middle of an intense civil war,calls for cancelling the Indian cricket teams tour of the island,a fast-unto-death protest by VCK leader Thirumavalavan,immolation bids by activists and a painting exhibition by children of Sri Lankan refugees are keeping the issue burning in Tamil Nadu. Referring to the recent cricket sanctions that India imposed on Pakistan after the Mumbai attack and to the Apartheid-era ban on South Africa,PMK founder S Ramadoss said in a statement that the relationship with the Sri Lankan cricket team also required a second look as the Government there was massacring its own citizens. At a time when Tamils are being killed in large numbers,the tour announced recently was an insult added to injury, said Ramadoss,noting that two of the top officials of the cricket board BCCI secretary N Srinivasan and chairman of selectors K Srikanth who took the decision were from Tamil Nadu. The team should not be allowed to tour till a solution to the internal conflict was found,said Ramadoss,an alliance partner at the Centre and for-now,a neutral player at the state. The Indian Government should also direct the BCCI in this regard. Otherwise,Tamils will boycott all international cricket matches held in Chennai, he warned in his statement,which was supported by the VCK. Meanwhile,the fast-unto-death by VCK general secretary Thirumavalavan entered the second day on Friday. The indefinite fast protest is aimed at pressurising the Indian Government to intervene in the civil war in Lanka,a demand put across by various parties and organisations across the state,and even by Amnesty International on Thursday.
