No apologies for Lanka visit, says actress Asin

South Indian actress Asin Thottumkal has told the media that she will not apologise for her visit to Sri Lanka merely because some actors in Tamil Nadu have demanded she do so.

Gajini actress Asin is unlikely to forget her recent Sri Lanka any time soon.

The star has been threatened with a boycott in Southern India for praising President Mahenda Rajapaksa who is credited with wiping out the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a long drawn battle that ended with the death of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

“All Tamilians in Sri Lanka are happy with the government as it treats everyone equal and I am honoured to be his (President Mahenda Rajapaksa’s) guest,” Asin is reported to have said.

Apart from visiting several places with the Rajapaksa family, Asin had dined and danced with Shiranthi, Rajapaksa’s wife when she hosted a party in Colombo.

Asin was in Sri Lanka, earlier this month, for the shooting of the Hindi film ‘Ready’ that stars Salman Khan opposite her. Prominent Tamil actors like Radha Ravi and Sathya Raj were particularly vocal against Asin at a meeting of South Indian Film Artistes Association.

The South Indian Film Chambers of Commerce, on the other hand, plans to consider demands to boycott Asin when it meets later this week.

“Though our association issued a diktat to its members not to visit Sri Lanka just before the IIFA awards function, Asin chose to go there for a shooting. She may be from Kerala but she acts in Tamil films and must respect Tamil sentiments,” said Radha Ravi, general secretary, SIFAA.

The association had boycotted International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards because the function was hosted in Sri Lanka.

While Ravi wants other actors to act only if she apologises, SIFAA president Sharat Kumar said it was too early to take a strong stand.

“Asin is an actor. She is from our own fraternity. Our steps must be measured in this issue. We will examine the circumstances in which Asin made these remarks before we take the final decision.”

Asin’s fans associations in the US and Canada have boycotted her films, while Naam Tamilar, a pro Tamil organisation, is planning to launch a mass protest in Chennai against Asin. 

Asin told MiD DAY that she was not going to heed to demands of individual actors like Radha Ravi and Satya Raj.

“I only visited a Tamil camp were some war injured are being treated. The president’s wife Shiranthi wanted to join me and I could not say no to her,” Asin told a Tamil newspaper, on Tuesday.

“I will abide by the decision taken by the chamber and will not apologise just because an actor has asked for it.” – (MiD DAY, Bangalore)

Photo caption: Actress Asin at a camp with Tamil children during her recent visit to Sri Lanka where she attended a party organised by  President Mahenda Rajapaksa’s wife Shiranthi.