Law college students held for rail roko

Thirty five government law college students were taken into custody here today when they attempted to block a train in the station over the Katchatheevu islet issue.
Raising slogans seeking to retrieve Katchatheevu and also demanding that India not participate in CHOGM 2013 in November in Sri Lanka, the students squatted in front of the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Inter City Express, police said.
As they continued raising slogans ignoring a request by Railway Police to disperse, the students were taken into custody, they said.
Katchatheevu is an islet ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974.
The Centre's action of filing an affidavit on the Katchatheevu issue in the Supreme Court has come under strong attack from all political parties in the state with TNCC saying it would take up the issue with the Prime Minister.

The union government, in response to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's petition seeking to declare as unconstitutional the agreement under which Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, had in the affidavit said no territory belonging to the country was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished.