Prabhakaran maker's fast unto death

'Prabhakaran' film director Thushara Peiries, who was allegedly attacked by a mob in Chennai for making an allegedly 'anti-Tamil' film, is on a 'fast-unto-death' demanding that the two governments help him get back prints of his film. The attack, he said, took place Tuesday at the Gemini Colour Laboratories in Chennai where his maiden celluloid venture 'Prabhakaran' was undergoing final processing.

The demonstrators, who according to Peiries were members of the Chennai film technicians' union, were under the impression that the film was about Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and that it was critical of the rebel leader and the Tamil separatist campaign. “I have stopped having food, water and medicines. I want the Sri Lankan and Indian governments to get involved and help me get the prints of my film back from the mob which seized them after beating me badly," Peiries told media in Colombo.

He further says, "The film is about how poor low caste Tamils and Sinhalese are made to go to war and die while the rich and high caste leaders sit comfortably in safety, and direct the fighting. But the mob would not listen. Some people in the crowd shouted that I made the film for President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is not true. The president just wanted to see the film. I was told about his interest in seeing it two weeks ago,"

He was sent back to Colombo on Wednesday by the Indian authorities for his own safety. Peiries said he was still bleeding from the nose and was vomiting frequently. He had a cut on his back and his eyes were bloodshot. 'Prabhakaran' is a bilingual film in Tamil and Sinhalese.