Colombo:
Tamil shopkeepers have protested in Sri Lanka's capital to condemn an attack on Sri Lankan pilgrims this week in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Some 184 Sri Lankan pilgrims were mobbed Monday in Tamil Nadu and had to seek refuge in the church they were visiting.
About 200 Tamil shopkeepers demonstrated Thursday near the Indian Embassy in Colombo, demanding Indian authorities ensure the safety of Sri Lankans visiting India.
Tamil Nadu is home to some 60 million Tamils who have ancestral links with Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils. The Indian Tamils have often expressed anger against Sri Lanka's Sinhalese-dominated government and its alleged abuse of Tamils during the country's long civil war, which ended in 2009.