By

P.K.Balachandran

Contrary to reports emanating from Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) is not building St.Anthony’s church at Kachchativu on its own, but is doing so at the written request of the Bishop of Jaffna, the local parish priest, Fr.Jeyaranjan, told Express on Sunday.

Bishop Rev.Dr.Justin Gnanapragasam had made a verbal request to the SLN in his speech at the last St.Anthony’s Feast held at Kachchativu on February 22. He followed it up with a written request to the Sri Lankan government, Fr.Jeyaranjan said.

The parish priest of Delft Island who is also in charge of Kachchativu, clarified that it is the Catholic Church in Jaffna which is building the church, and that the SLN is only carrying out a contract.

The Navy was roped in because only it is equipped to carry out such work in mid sea, especially in the current inclement weather with the sea being choppy, Fr.Jeyaranjan explained.

The Bishop had asked for a new building because the existing chapel was falling apart, having being constructed way back in 1901.

“Rev.Ganaparagasam had mentioned in his speech at the last Feast, that the expanded church will strengthen the umbilical cord which binds the Catholics of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu,” Fr.Jeyaranjan recalled, stressing the role of the construction in strengthening ties across the Palk Strait.

ONLY A LARGE HALL

According to Lankan Naval Spokesman, Capt.Akram Alavi, what is being constructed is actually only a large hall to accommodate the ever increasing throng of worshipers. The old chapel has been left untouched because it is considered a “heritage site”.

TN PILGRIMS REQUESTED

Pilgrims from Tamil Nadu had themselves asked for the construction of a new church because the existing chapel is tiny, said Lankan Navy Commander Vice Adm. Ravindra Wijegunaratne.

“If you go through video clippings of programs on the last Feast aired by Sun TV and Jaya TV of Tamil Nadu, you will notice pilgrims from Tamil Nadu asking for a second church to be built,” he said.
Worshipers from both sides of the Palk Strait had pledged to contribute money for the construction, a diplomat who attended the Feast said.

POLITICAL DIMENSION

Political observers said that the issue is intertwined with conflicting claims over Kachchativu. While Tamil Nadu says that the island was wrongly and illegally handed over to Lanka, and should be retrieved, Lankans claim that the island has always been theirs, and that the handing over of the island through treaties in 1974 and 1976 was entirely in order.

“In view of the political sensitivity of the issue, the Lankan government could have informed India about the construction, but it did not do so because informing India would have weakened its case. The Tamil Nadu fishermen and politicians are objecting to the construction because not doing so would weaken their case,” an observer of India-Lanka relations said.

SUSPENSION OF WORK DENIED

Navy Commander Adm. Wijegunaratne refuted a story in a Lankan weekly, that the Navy has suspended the construction of the church because India had objected saying that it suspected that Lanka was constructing a “naval base.”

“We have suspended work on the foundation only because of the rains and the choppy sea,” Adm.Wijegunaratne clarified.

Diplomats confirmed that Lanka is not constructing a naval base in Kachchativu.

The controversy is also attributed to the State Assembly election campaigns in Tamil Nadu in which contesting parties have been trying to outdo each other in holding up the fishermen’s cause.

Courtesy:New Indian Express