India denying visa to Ch-4 director is ‘cheap’-Karunanidhi

7 November 2013 03:42 am Views - 3781

DMK chief M Karunanidhi today described as “cheap tactics” the reported denial of a visa to a UK documentary film-maker Callum Macrae, the director of the controversial Channel-4 films.

India had reportedly denied a visa to Macrae, whose recent video claims that a woman Tamil TV presenter who had served in the LTTE was executed after being captured by Sri Lankan troops and was not killed during the final battle as claimed by the government.

She was found dead, with the clothes stripped off her body. “Denial of visa for Callum Macrae is not just against freedom of expression but also cheap tactics”, the DMK leader said citing a Tamil anecdote.

Quoting Macrae’s reported statement, Karunandhi said he had applied for visa eight months ago to release his video in New Delhi. Sri Lanka had dismissed the video documentary, aired on Britain’s Channel 4 as “fake”, saying attempts were being made to discredit the army ahead of the Commonwealth conference.
“It is nothing new for Channel 4 to discredit Sri Lanka at important times such as the UN Human Rights Council sessions and the upcoming Commonwealth conference,” military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya had said. PTI