The ailing mother of Sri Lanka's slain Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has been denied entry to India for medical treatment, the Press Trust of India reported Saturday. Vallipuram Parvathi travelled from Malaysia to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Friday night, but was prevented from leaving the aircraft, the Indian news agency said, giving no details.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet website also reported the incident, saying she was "refused landing by Indian immigration officials." The wheelchair-bound Parvathi was to be admitted to a hospital in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu which shares close cultural links with Sri Lanka's minority Tamils.
Parvathi, who is believed to be in her early 80s, was seeking treatment because she had suffered a stroke, a Tamil politician in Colombo told AFP, asking not to be named. There was no immediate comment from Indian government officials. Tamilnet reported that she had been sent back to Malaysia and that she had been denied landing by Indian immigration officials as she was considered "a threat to law and order in the state."
Police stepped up security around Chennai airport to prevent any disturbances as a small group of Tamils including local politicians who were vocal supporters of Prabhakaran gathered outside, PTI reported. Parvathi had left Sri Lanka for Malaysia after the death of her husband in military custody in January. The rebel leader's parents had been living in India but returned to Sri Lanka soon after a ceasefire between government troops and the Tigers in 2002 that ended after several years.