Sri Lankan refugees, Hindus and Christians, around Our Lady of Madhu
Chennai
(AsiaNews) - A "miracle of unity and peace" capable of gathering
"Hindus and Christians together" is how Fr. Nithiya
OFM, Executive Secretary of the Office for Human Development of the Federation
of Asian Bishop Conferences (FABC), described the feast in honor of Our Lady of Madhu, honored
in Sri Lanka and for the first time celebrated in India to AsiaNews. For
11 days, the Sri Lankan refugee camp in Vazhavanthan Kottai, near Trichy (Tamil
Nadu), hosted the statue of Our Lady of Madhu, welcoming Catholics and not only
from the 118 refugee camps in the Indian state.
The
Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu (diocese of Mannar, Sri Lanka) is a place of great
devotion for the Catholic Tamil and Sinhalese, and a symbol of unity between
them and the faithful of all religions. Every
year, on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption, hundreds of thousands
of pilgrims come to Madhu.
The
Capuchins have run the camp at Vazhavanthan Kottai for 22 years, devoted to
social development and pastoral care of refugees. Education,
basic health services, courses in tailoring and computer science are the main
activities. However,
given the difficulties of going to Sri Lanka for the pilgrimage and the harsh
conditions in which the Tamil refugees live, led the priests to create a
sanctuary in India. For the occasion,
Fr. Nithiya and Fr. Selva brought the
statue of Our Lady to Trichy.
During
and after the civil war in Sri Lanka, thousands of Tamils fled to India, "welcomed"
to 118 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu. "Here
- explains Fr. Nithiya - there is no transparency or clarity. Nobody takes
responsibility for what happens in the camps and in police stations. There are
no controls, and I do not know if there is procedure to appeal and
report abuse. No country has the right to torture men and women just because they
are citizens of another State. This is a symptom of a lack of human consciousness and social
thought. No democracy should tolerate such a condition of the human being. When
it
comes to torture, India is no different from other countries. "
In
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, the Christian Solidarity Movement (CSM) has dedicated the
prayers of the Solemnity of the Assumption to all IDPs (internally displaced
people, IDPs) of the civil war, in particular Mullikulam refugees.
.png)
