Seventeen lawyers and approximately 50 students were arrested for protesting against Congress party’s support for the Sri Lankan state and its failure to protect Tamil civilians in the neighbouring island.

The arrests came as All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi, toured major cities in Tamil Nadu to rejuvenate the party at the grass-roots level in the state.

On Wednesday September 10, approximately 50 law students were arrested in Madurai for demonstrating against Gandhi’s visit to Tamil Nadu.

The students flayed Congress for being “indifferent” to the ‘sufferings’ of Sri Lankan Tamils and demanded the ban on LTTE to be lifted and India to recognise separate Tamil Eelam, police said.

On Thursday September 10, the day Gandhi was scheduled to arrive in Coimbatore, 17 lawyers were arrested by the police for staging a black flag demonstration over the visit Gandhi to Tamil Nadu, accusing Congress of failing to protect the lives and property of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The lawyers, carrying black flags, shouted slogans such as 'Rahul Go Back' 'Do not enter Tamil Nadu,' near the District Court Complex.

At a press meeting held at Chennai, Gandhi was cornered by the media on the Congress government's lack of response to the plight of Tamils lodged in camps in Sri Lanka, according to local media reports.

Answering a flurry of questions that bordered on accusing the Congress of inaction despite large scale civilian deaths in the island nation, Rahul vehemently denied the charge and said he and his family had always stood for Tamils' rights and maintained that India would not tolerate any violation of their rights, according to reports.

Frustrated at the unrelenting media, at one point, Gandhi was quoted as asking "What answer do you want?'' and adding "I want to make something very clear. My family has always had utmost admiration and respect for Tamil people. My grandmother and my father were involved in this. We've deep sentiments for Tamil people''.

“The government and the Prime Minister would not tolerate anything other than this.”

“The central government is applying as much pressure as possible on the Sri Lankan government. Congress wants the rights of the Tamils guaranteed. There is absolutely no question about it. We will do everything to protect them,'' he was further quoted as saying.

However, Gandhi did not make any specific comments on the internment of 300,000 internally displaced Tamils in camps.

However, responding to Gandhi’s comments Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader V Gopalswamy (Vaiko) said that Gandhi was ignorant of the plight of Tamils and his assurance has come too late for Tamil refugees.

"Rahul Gandhi stated that the Indian Government would not let down the Tamils. Already the Indian government has enabled them (Government of Sri Lanka) to disseminate (divide and isolate) the Tamils. So, Rahul Gandhi, I pity him for his ignorance," Vaiko said.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in New York denied a visa to US-based humanitarian worker and a critic of the Sri Lanka Government, Dr Ellyn Shander to travel to New Delhi to address the Delhi Tamil Sangam on 20th September, Deccan Chronicle reported.

Shander was to address the Delhi meeting with MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, after attending meeting in Bangalore with the local Tamil Sangam on 15th of September.

"Her [Shander's] Indian host M.Natarajan, Chennai-based political activist and husband of Sasikala, close friend of AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa Jeyaram, has accused both the Central and state governments of curbing free speech in the country," the paper said.

Natarajan has organised a series of meetings in Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Madurai and Delhi till Sept. 20 with Shander as the main speaker, the paper added.

Natarajan said that the Chennai police had denied permission to conduct an indoor meeting with Shander as the guest on September 16. “We have moved the Madras high court against denial of permission to conduct indoor meetings on the human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The writ petition would be heard on Monday,” the paper said quoting Natarajan.

Shander told TamilNet that she will protest against the visa cancellation.

"My only hope and desire is to see the Tamils of Sri Lanka liberated from the hell of the concentration camps. They are being brutalized, killed, raped and deprived of even basic human rights, by their own government, all because they were born Tamil in Sri Lanka," Shander told TamilNet, adding, "The Indian government has the ability to be a shining example of humanitarianism and save the Tamils of Sri Lanka. India will then go down, on the right side of history."

Shander, a Connecticut physician, worked with the Elie Wiesel Foundation to obtain a statement from the nobel laureate, Elie Wiesel supporting Tamils right to "live and flourish in t Sri Lanka, according to local2F>