Protesting minister blocks military vehicles in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 December 2003, 09:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s minister for Hindu Affairs, Mr. T. Maheswaran, blocked military vehicles on Palaly Road, one of the main traffic arteries of Jaffna, Monday in protest against the Sri Lanka army for refusing to let him visit Keerimalai, a temple village inside the peninsula’s garrisoned northwest sector, on Sunday. The Minister and his supporters blocked Sri Lankan armed forces vehicles plying the Palaly Road with a bus from 8 a.m. to noon.

However, they allowed general traffic through the road. The protest was held in front of the Minister’s residence at Kandar Madam on Palaly Road.

Mr. Maheswaran told TamilNet that he wanted to visit the Keerimalai area to explore the possibility of resettling people who were rendered refugees a decade ago when the SLA garrisoned the area.

His said as an MP for Jaffna and as the Minister for Hindu Affairs, he has the right to visit the area.

“I will raise the issue in Parliament”, Mr. Maheswaran said.

An earlier much publicized effort by the Minister to resettle displaced families around a temple inside the garrisoned Tellipalai area came to naught when the SLA blocked the plan.