Tamil superstar Rajnikanth cancels trip to Sri Lanka on appeal by radical Tamil Nadu politicians

On the appeal of some extremist Tamil Nadu politicians, Tamil superstar Rajnikanth has cancelled his visit to Sri Lanka to inaugurate 150 houses for war-displaced Tamils at a function in Vavuniya in North Sri Lanka on April 9.

In a letter he made public on Saturday, Rajnikanth said that he is cancelling the trip though he does not agree with the arguments put forward by the detractors.

He said that the Viduthalai Chiruththai Katchi (VCK) leader Thol Thirumavalavan and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko, had asked him not to go to Sri Lanka and that at their request he has decided not to undertake the trip, though he does not share their perspective on the visit.

Rajnikanth said he had accepted the invitation from a good man like film financier Allirajah Subaskaran of the UK-based  Lyca organization because the 150 houses he had built were for the suffering war affected women of the Northern Province.

The superstar further said that after the function, he was to go to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, including Mulliwaikkal the “sacred place” where the last battle took place, to talk to, and know about, the problems of the Tamils there. Thousands of Tamil civilians are believed to have been killed in shelling by Sri Lankan government forces in May 2009.

Although he is cancelling this trip, he is hoping to go to Sri Lanka to meet and entertain the Tamil people, as he is not a politician but an entertainer. He hoped that people will not stop him from doing that.

Pro-Sri Lankan Tamil political parties and movements in Tamil Nadu had asked Rajnikanth not to go to Sri Lanka when the plight of the Tamil people has been ignored by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva and the Sri Lankan government has been given two more years time to implement the September 2015 resolution seeking mechanisms to investigate alleged war crimes and provide justice to the Tamils.

Rajnikanth’s visit became controversial because of the timing. It was announced when the UNHRC had let down the Tamils. Before the 34 th session of the UNHRC began, singer SB Balasubramanyam had held a show in Colombo and film maker Bharathiraja had visited Sri Lanka without anyone objecting.

Allirajah Subaskaran

Lyca production’s Allirajah Subaskaran is also a controversial figure in Tamil Nadu because he is thought to be close to former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Subaskaran, a UK national of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, is the owner of Lycamobile, a mobile phone company operating in 21 countries with 14 million subscribers.

However, privately, many artistes from Tamil Nadu had visited Sri Lanka and held concerts and shows in Jaffna without a hitch.

Programmes sponsored by the Indian government with artistes from Tamil Nadu are held frequently in Jaffna without any objections from Tamil Nadu politicos.