No Indian devotees for Kachchativu feast

The annual religious celebrations in the Kachchativu island to mark the feast of St Anthony will be held this year without Indian pilgrims due to the COVID19 situation.

The decision was taken this week at a meeting presided over by Jaffna's District Sectary K.Mahesan and attended by Jaffna's Bishop the Rt. Rev. Justin Gnanapragasam, health officials and senior security personnel.

Mr Mahesan told the Sunday Times that that based on the advice of the health authorities, Indian pilgrims would not be allowed to attend the feast on March 11 and 12.

Only 500 local devotees selected from the Mannar and Jaffna dioceses would be permitted to attend the feast, provided they produced their vaccination certificates confirming that they had obtained two doses and the booster.

The Delft Island Divisional Secretary S. Sathiyasothy said that to prevent the spread of COVID-19 the strict guidelines were being followed.

The decision to prevent Indian pilgrims from participating has drawn protests by the Rameshwaran Motor Boat Association as it was finalising arrangements to transport the pilgrims.

When the feast was celebrated last in 2020, there were 3,000 Indian devotees and 7,000 Sri Lankan devotees.