Hindu devotees in their hundreds participated in the Ganesha pooja at the Sri Manika Vinayakar Alayam Hindu temple in Paris and broke thousands of coconuts as a part of ritual defying the orders issued by the Tamil Tigers 'not to waste money to break coconuts when the people in the north and east are displaced', according to news reports received.

The LTTE had pasted posters in Tamil dominated La Chappelle area in Paris urging Hindu population to boycott the coconut pooja, which is an integral part of the Ganesha pooja that is being currently held at the Sri Manika Vinayakar Alayam Temple at No 72, rue Philippe de Girard i Paris 18 and contribute funds to the Tamil Refugee Organization (TRO).

The TRO (ORT France) is under investigation currently as the documents seized from 17 arrested LTTE cadres in France have revealed the close links between the LTTE and ORT France. The Sri Lanka Embassy in Paris urged the European Union to ban the TRO as it is a front organization of the LTTE.

(Courtesy : Ministry of Defence)