Another Isaipriya? Vaiko urges PM to intervene

A teenage female news reader of the defunct Tamil Eelam TV channel, Harini, is among the 19 Tamils, who are facing the threat of being deported to Colombo from Dubai.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, MDMK leader Vaiko recalled the brutal gang-rape and murder of Isaipriya, another news reader of the same channel during the final days of the Eelam war in 2009, and sought his intervention to stop the deportation of the 19 Tamils to Colombo.

Isaipriya was brutally gang-raped and murdered by the Sri Lankan army. Vaiko does not want Harini to meet her fate

According to Vaiko, a group of 45 Eelam Tamils had left for Australia from Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu on 7 October 2012.

Vaiko states in the letter: “Due to rough sea conditions and inadequate number of passengers on board, the boat they were travelling in was about to sink.

“In response to their desperate cry for help, the crew of a Dubai based cargo ship rescued them and took them to Dubai where the rescued sought asylum through the International Red Cross.”

According to Vaiko, Sweden has agreed to provide asylum to seven of the stranded people, the USA has granted permission to take one, and six others have already been deported to Sri Lanka.

Expressing his concern for the remaining Tamils, and especially for Harini, who face the prospect of being deported to Colombo, Vaiko has noted in the letter: “I shudder to think of the fate she may have to face at the hands of Sri Lankan Army... You may kindly recall Channel 4 Television's heart breaking revelation of the brutal killing of Isai Priya, the media person after being gang-raped by the Sri Lankan Army men (sic).”

Vaiko has urged the PM to “ensure the safety and security of these 19 Tamils and on humanitarian grounds see that they are not deported to Sri Lanka at any cost.” – TWL Bureau

Also Read

Tamil newspaper office attacked in Sri Lanka