Chennai: An ‘unofficial’ junior cricket team from Sri Lanka that came here to play in a tournament hosted in the city by a Congress MP was sent back on Monday morning, within hours of arrival, citing security concerns, police said.
The 16-member team, which included three ‘officials’, had arrived Sunday night for playing in the tournament organised by Mr J M Haroon, MP, during August 4-7. They were allotted six rooms in a prominent hotel, but before they could settle down in their beds, they were told to pack up and return to their country by some police personnel.
Sources said the team managers and the tournament organisers were told that the police would not be able to guarantee the security of the Sinhala players, all in their early teens, during their stay in
Chennai and at the matches at the YMCA ground in Saidapet. The police said the participation of the Sinhala players could breach law and order, particularly due to the heightened tension following the appearance of a derogatory article and graphic against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TN chief minister Jayalalithaa. That web site post had caused widespread anger in the state, prompting Sri Lanka to remove it and issue an unqualified apology.
It may be recalled that CM Jayalalithaa, in line with her consistent stance against anti-Tamil Colombo, had ordered the home a Lankan football team that had come to play a ‘friendly’ match in 2012. She has been opposing the training of Lankan forces anywhere in India, saying that the Sinhala troops had committed war crimes against Tamils.
Speaking to DC on the phone from Colombo, Sri Lankan Minister Douglas Devananda said as soon as he came to know about the offensive post on the defence site, he phoned President Mahinda Rajapaksa to bring it to his notice. “The President expressed shock and said he was not aware of it. He said he would check and get back. He later contacted me and said it appeared someone had hacked into the defence site and the offensive matter was quickly removed. The President told me that he had ordered a probe and also asked the government to convey unqualified apology to the Indian Prime Minister and Tamil Nadu chief minister”, said Devananda, who is also the leader of the EPDP.
