5000 Indian pilgrims expected to participate in Katchatheevu fete

RAMESWARAM: About 5000 Indian pilgrims are expected to participate in the two-day St. Antony’s Church festival at Katchatheevu Island, next month. Intelligence sources said the Srilankan government has made arrangements to provide shelter, drinking water and food for the Indian pilgrims. Stiff restrictions were imposed by the Lankan authorities to the visiting pilgrims that they should not bring liquor, infl ammable materials like kerosene, stove, cigarettes, video cameras, arms and ammunitions etc. The festival will begin on March two with the hoisting of fl ag at the Church. The Indian pilgrims would leave for Katchatheevu on the early hours of March three after a thorough check up. Though there are no restrictions on account of visa-related procedures, the pilgrims have to pass customs another check ups. The Indian maritime forces would monitor inward and onward journey of the pilgrims. The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) vessels will escort the Mechanized boats carrying Indian pilgrims from Rameswaram Jetty to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) from where they will be escorted to Katchatheevu by Srilankan navy. The aspiring pilgrims should register their names with the Ramanathapuram district authorities. Only the registered people will be allowed to go to Katchatheevu. The pilgrims will return to Rameswaram on March four. Meanwhile, Fr. Michael Raj, Priest of Vercode Church (Ramanathapuram) said as many as 2000 people have registered their names so far. It may be recalled that after a gap of three decades, the SriLankan Government gave permission to the Indians to attend the St Antony’s Church festival during the year 2010. More than 3,500Indians, mostly comprising fi shermen and Christian people, participated in the festival held on February 27, 2010. Similarly, 2956 pilgrims, including women participated in the festival on March 19, last year. The 275-acre uninhabited Island of Katchatheevu on the Palk Strait was gifted to Sri Lanka in 1974 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as a goodwill gesture. As per the agreement betweenthe two countries, the Indians were allowed to visit the Island without any valid documents like visa or passport and the Indian fi shermen have rights to take rest and dry their nets in the Island. The Island became a center of controversy, after the SriLankan Government banned entry of Indians to participate in St Antony’s Church festival in the year 1982 and denied permission to the Indian fi shermen to poach around the Island, subsequent to the intensifi cation of civil war in the Island nation. Thereafter, several Indian fi shermen were killed and injured in the attack by Sri Lankan Navy on several occasions, prompting the regional political parties, to pressurize the Indian Government to retrieve the Island from Sri Lanka.