Rajinikanth cancels trip to Sri Lanka, takes dig at politics

Mumbai: In a curious turn of events, Rajinikanth has decided to cancel his visit to Sri Lanka.

"VCK chief Thirumavalavan & MDMK chief Vaiko urged me not to visit Sri Lanka, accepted their request because of cordial relationship," ANI quoted Rajini as saying.

Rajinikanth also sent out an official statement regarding his decision.

"I had wanted to attend the event as I wanted to be on the land where several had lost their lives to live there. I also wanted to meet President Maithripala Sirisena and request him for a peaceful consensus regarding the firshermen dispute, an issue that had deeply troubled me.

But however, Thol. Thirumavalavan and Vaiko had requested me not to attend the event, citing many political reasons. While I will able to agree with all their reasons, I accept their request and have decided not to attend the event.

I would like to say that I am not a politican. I am an actor. Making people happy is my job and if i get an opportunity to go and meet the Srilankan Tamils in the future, I request you to please not politicise the visit and allow me to meet them and entertain them," Rajini writes in the letter.

TNCC president S Thirunavukkarasar added, "Decision taken by Rajinikanth is right, he always takes right decisions."

Rajinikanth was supposed to present 150 homes to displaced Tamils in a two-day-long event organized by Gnanam Foundation in Jaffna, Sri Lanka on April 9.

When we approached Rajinikanth to grace the event as the chief guest, he readily agreed to be part of the function," Raju Mahalingam, Creative Head of Lyca Productions, had said in a statement.

Rajinikanth will next be seen in Shankar's '2.0'.