Source: www.thehindu.com
MALKANGIRI, ORISSA, INDIA, JULY 4, 2009: A group of former Sri Lankan rebels left the war in the late 1980’s and settled in deep rural Orissa, where they’ve been nearly 20 years. About two thousand of them came, but only hundred stayed in the small town, where they enjoy a peaceful community.
A Ganesha temple was built by them, their first new place or worship. “And this one could well be the first Ganesha temple in the whole Koraput region,” says Gopi Krishna Patnaik, a Malkangiri reporter.
“We are glad to be in Orissa,” says S. Prabhakaran, their leader here and a former rebel commander. “And particularly in Malkangiri. These are a gentle and accommodating people. There are many languages spoken in this town and ours is accepted as one more. We do not feel like strangers. We have more friends here than anywhere else.”