Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Friday wrote to external affairs minister, S Jaishankar requesting him to safeguard the Indian community in South Africa which has a sizable Tamil population.
His letter comes amid reports of riots in provinces of South Africa where people of Indian origin are being killed and thousands of businesses owned by the Indian community are being destroyed.
Stalin said that this is a matter of “great concern and urgency” and requested Jaishankar to once again initiate diplomatic means with the South African government “to impress upon the need for restoration of peace and harmony at the earliest and also to take adequate measures to safeguard life and property of the Indian community including persons from Tamil Nadu.”
“It has also been reported that the Indian community including a large section of Tamil the population has suffered economic losses. It is learnt that they are also apprehensive of further escalation of tensions there,” Stalin said in his letter.