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Several Indian groups are threatening to invade the Kachchateevu island and hoist the Indian national flag.
The main opposition political party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it is making preparations to go by force to Kachchateevu off the Jaffna peninsula, which belongs to Sri Lanka.
President of the Tamil Nadu branch of the BJP, Ila Gansesan, told The Sunday Leader that several BJP supporters had made an attempt to go to Kachchateevu last weekend.
“We tried to go to Kachchateevu from Rameshwaram to hold a function but that attempt failed. We will now attempt to go and raise the Indian flag on the island. We have not set a date for that attempt as yet,” Ila Gansesan said.
He also said that several other groups in Tamil Nadu are expected to make a similar attempt tomorrow (Monday).
“Those groups that are trying to go on Monday are not connected to us. We will try to go separately,” Ila Gansesan said.
The Sri Lankan Navy has warned that it will take measures to prevent anyone from entering Sri Lanka’s territorial waters illegally.
“We take the responsibility of Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. If anyone attempts to cross the maritime boundary we will block them,” Navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said.
Kachchateevu was ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974 but several Indian political groups have been demanding that the island be given back to India.
In June this year the Tamil Nadu government led by J. Jayalalithaa filed a petition in the Indian Supreme Court seeking the declaration of the 1974 agreement between India and Sri Lanka on ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka as unconstitutional. The case is still being heard.
Indians Warn Of Invasion | The Sunday Leader