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Lankan refugees seek speedy trial, threaten fast

CHENNAI: A 40-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil, a resident of the special camp at Poonamallee, has sought the permission of the authorities to go on fast from January 15 demanding speedy trial. The residents have also demanded an enhancement of their daily allowance from Rs 45 to Rs 70.


The representation, submitted to the jurisdictional tahsildar, has been referred to the state government through the Kancheepuram district collector.


According to sources, Muthanna has submitted a representation to the Poonamallee Tahsildar, S Padmavathy, requesting permission to sit on fast inside the camp from January 15 onwards. Muthanna and other inmates are demanding expeditious trial of cases against them pending in special courts.


Tamil Nadu has two special camps -- one is at Chengalpattu and the other at Poonamallee. As of now, only nine Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are in the Poonamallee camp. Nine others have got conditional permission from courts to stay at their relatives’ house in the city. Terming the special camp as a jail, inmates have complained that steps should be taken to expedite the trial process.


The state government has fixed Rs 45 as daily allowance for each inmate. This amount is disbursed once in every fortnight by the local Tahsildar. For the past few months, the inmates are staging sit-in protests inside the camp, demanding enhancement of the allowance to Rs 70. On January 1, when the revenue officials visited the camp to disburse the amount, the inmates refused toe receive the amount, and said they would accept it only if it was increased.


When contacted, tahsildar S Padmavathy said: “The inmates declined to accept the allowance. But after repeated requests they received the money on Friday. As they are not allowed to go out for buying grocery and other items, we have deputed a revenue official to help them buy the essentials. Their request to increase the allowance has been sent to the state government through the collectorate.” – (Times of India)
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