The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will urge the Sri Lankan government to build a temple in Katchatheevu, the party’s MP Seenithamby Yogeswaran has said.

Yogeswaran, who was in Madurai to participate in the Vinayagar idol procession organised by Hindu Makkal Katchi on Tuesday, told mediapersons that there is an increasing demand from Tamils to build a temple in Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in the year 1974.

He claimed that while hundreds of arrested Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre had died under suspicious circumstances after the Eelam war, those who are in prison are suffering from ‘mysterious’ diseases.

“Since the LTTE cadre are suffering from unknown diseases, it has raised a suspicion that they might have been poisoned in jails,” the Lankan Tamil MP alleged.

Appealing to the Lankan government to address their health issues, Yogeswaran said the rehabilitation measures undertaken for the internally-displaced Tamils have been far from satisfactory.

However, the current environment in Sri Lanka is not as unsafe as it had been under the Rajapaksa regime, he added.

Since Tamils played a vital role in removing the Rajapakasa government, President Maithripala Sirisena has not acted against their interests, he added.

(The New Indian Express)