Let Sri Lankans worship at Velankanni shrine: bishop
March 2, 2013: A Sri Lankan bishop has said that pilgrims from his country should
be allowed to pay a visit to the revered Annai Velankanni shrine in Tamil Nadu.
“Pilgrims
should not be stopped at all,” said Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna while
referring the incident last week when the Tamil Nadu police turned back 70 Lankan
pilgrims fearing violence from Tamil Nationalist groups.
The prelate said that
Lankan Catholics, whether Tamil or Sinhalese, are very much devoted to Annai Velankanni.
“They make vows to the deity. They should not be prevented from fulfilling their vows,”
he said.
Fr Cyril Gamini, spokesman of the acting Bishop of Colombo, said that
stopping pilgrims from going to a place of worship was an “undemocratic act and a
violation of a human right”.
“One of the yardsticks for judging the state of
democracy and human rights in a country is the existence or non-existence of the freedom
of worship for all communities,” he added.
“The Tamil Nadu government is responsible
for giving protection to pilgrims. After all, pilgrims do not go to Tamil Nadu for
any purpose other than offering worship at its shrines,” Fr Gamini said.
Asked
if such incidents would prevent Lankans from visiting shrines in Tamil Nadu, he said,
“the incidents have been sporadic. Our people have been going despite past incidents
of violence and will continue to go.”
A group of 75 Sri Lankans were last
week returned by the Indian government from a pilgrimage to south India due protest
from locals.
Last year, a group with 184 people on a pilgrimage to Poornimatha
Church in Thanjavur and Velankanni Shrine Basilica were attacked by pro-Eelam groups.