Prospective pilgrims from India for the annual festival of St. Antony’s Church on the island of Kachatheevu cancelled their pilgrimage and put forward a demand for the release of the Indian fishermen detained in Sri Lankan jails.
“The boat owners, the boatmen, and the fishermen’s associations in India are carrying out this protest for their release,” said Rev. Fr. Santhiyagu, the Parish Priest of Verkodu, Tamil Nadu. “And that is the reason for the cancellation of the pilgrimage from India until the problem is solved,” he said.