Chennai:
Nearly 150 protesters belonging to the Naam Tamizhar Katchi, a pro-Tamil party, were arrested today as they attempted to enter the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district.
The protesters demanded that the central government should send back two Sri Lankan military officers who are being trained there.
Last month, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had slammed the Centre for continuing training programmes for Lankan army personnel even after an oral assurance by Defence Minister A K Antony earlier that such programmes won't be held in the state.
She had wanted the Centre to suspend military training to Lankan defence personnel till the island country took credible and satisfactory action to end human rights violations against the Tamils. She had also described the Centre's action as "insensitive despite overwhelming groundswell of public opinion against continuing atrocities upon Lankan Tamils by the Sri Lankan government".
In the past, the Centre had sent back Lankan defence personnel from the Nilgiris and the Tambaram Air Force Station in Chennai following protests and pressure from political parties in the state, including the DMK which was its key ally then.
On Tuesday, MDMK Chief Vaiko is scheduled to protest outside the Wellington campus.
Sri Lanka has, however, denied allegations of indiscriminate killing and human rights violations against Lankan Tamils. Despite international pressure, the country has not agreed for an independent international probe. A UN appointed committee had earlier estimated that at least 40,000 Lankan Tamil civilians were killed in the final phase of the war against the LTTE. Some reports suggest the casualties could me more than a lakh.