Chennai, Sept. 13: Pilgrims from Karnataka had faced attacks at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu yesterday. Today, the temple town welcomed visitors from the neighbouring state with special rites and escorted them around, its contrition backed up by business sense.
About 15 tourists who arrived by train this morning were surprised to be greeted with the poorna kumbh (a pot with coconut and flowers on top) by volunteers from the Hindu Makkal Katchi, a nationalist political party.
The volunteers escorted the pilgrims to the Ramanathaswamy Temple, where Ram had built a Shiva Linga with sand before setting off for Sri Lanka, and took them around the various teerthas (holy sites) for puja.
Later, they were escorted to their lodge so that they could board their train on Wednesday without any incident.
"We did not want a repeat of Monday morning when six tourist vehicles with Karnataka number plates were attacked by members of a Tamil fringe group," K. Parthibhan, a local official of the Katchi, said.
"These assaulters had beaten up one of the drivers, and a video of the thrashing was aired by Kannada news channels and triggered reprisals in Karnataka. So we asked our volunteers to identify pilgrims from Karnataka today and ensure their safety."
A hotelier in Rameswaram said the attacks on Karnataka vehicles could spell disaster for the town, whose economy depends heavily on religious tourism.
"Lakhs are expected to arrive here for the Mahalaya Amavasya on September 30; we don't want any unsavoury incident to turn them away," he said.
"This is the birthplace of (former President) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; such incidents bring dishonour to his memory."
Principal Opposition DMK too asked its volunteers to maintain peace after some Tamil news channels aired protests by Kannada groups in front of the farmhouse of Selvi, M. Karunanidhi's daughter, outside Bangalore. Selvi lives in Ram Nagar, Bangalore, with her husband Selvam.
Some TV channels telecast WhatsApp videos showing attacks in Karnataka yesterday on truck drivers from this state, but Tamil Nadu held its peace.
Fringe political groups seeking the limelight had spearheaded most of the sporadic violence in Tamil Nadu yesterday, including the stoning of Chennai's New Woodlands hotel whose owners have Karnataka roots.
"We have strictly warned leaders of the fringe groups that they would be arrested under the National Security Act if their members resort to the slightest violence again," a senior police officer said.
"Even yesterday's attack on New Woodlands was a minor incident that got blown out of proportion by some news channels in Karnataka. Governments should impose some restraints on news channels during such crises."
While the attacks stopped, the blame game lingered. The editor of a Tamil news channel claimed that the Tamil channels had been far more restrained yesterday than their Kannada opposite numbers, some of whose anchors he accused of fanning passions.
"We know we are viewed in Karnataka as well and did not want to risk the lives of Tamils there by taking an antagonistic approach," he claimed.
