A man in Tami Nadu’s Salem district set himself on fire to protest against a planned trip by Sri Lankan president Mahindra Rajapakse, who will arrive in Delhi later this week. The injured man from Salem is being treated in hospital for serious burn injuries.
Last month, DMK Chief Karunanidhi said that Mr Rajapakse’s visit to India was “unacceptable.”
The Sri Lankan forces have been accused of violating the rights of thousands of Tamils in the final months of the island’s civil war, which ended in May 2009. The rebel LTTE tigers were defeated. Political parties in Tamil Nadu staunchly support the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils, who have for decades complained about persecution by the majority Sinhalese.
Political parties in Tamil Nadu have expressed their opposition to the government’s decision to allow the training of Sri Lanka defence officers in India. In July, nine air force officers were moved from an air base in Tamil Nadu to Bangalore after objections by Jayalalithaa. However, she came in for much criticism after she recently ordered school and college football team from Sri Lanka to leave the state.
Source: NDTV
