NEW DELHI: At least 1,000 Indian Tamil Catholic pilgrims will take part in the annual festival of the St Anthony’s Church in Kachchathivu on Saturday (February 27), The Island learnt last night.

This is perhaps for the first time since the civil war broke out in Sri Lanka’s North and East in 1983 that Indian pilgrims will be attending the festival in Kachchathivu in such large numbers. The bloody war that ravaged the North-East finally ended in May last year, paving the way for the fishermen of Jaffna and Tamil Nadu coast jointly celebrating the festival this year.

Kachchathivu is a tiny isle situated in the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka, about 15km southwest of Delft (Nedunthivu) islet. India handed it over to Sri Lanka in June 1974. The bilateral agreement signed by the two countries on that occasion says Indian fishermen and pilgrims will enjoy visa-free access to visit Kachchathivu.

The pilgrims, primarily fishermen from Tamil Nadu, will travel in 20 fishing boats. They will be escorted by the Coast Guard of the Indian Navy up to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). From IMBL, Sri Lankan Navy vessels will escort them to Kachchathivu.

The Indian fishermen-pilgrims will participate in the festivities at St Antony’s church on Saturday evening, spend the night on the isle, and leave the place at 4pm on Sunday in their boats for their villages along the Tamil Nadu coast.

The Sri Lankan Navy vessels will escort them up to the IMBL, from where the Indian Navy’s Coast Guard will escort them to the Tamil Nadu shore.

Welcoming the participation of Indian Catholic pilgrims in such large numbers after so many years, Jaffna Bishop Reverend Father Gnana Prakasam told The Island in a telephone interview from his home: "I am delighted to see that so many pilgrims are coming from India. The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry gave me this wonderful news only a short while ago."

"The pilgrims have to carry their own food and water to Kachchathivu!" the Jaffna Bishop quipped. He is expecting 500 Sri Lankan pilgrims to join the festivities.

Dr EM Sudarsana Natchiappan, a Rajya Sabha member from Tamil Nadu, heartily welcomed the development and declared in an interview to this newspaper: "This shows that peace has finally returned to Sri Lanka. This is one step forward in consolidating relations between our two countries."