DBS Jeyaraj, in the Financial Times, 28 March 2025 where the title reads “How UK-sanctioned “Col” Karuna was deported from Britain 17 years ago”
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias “Col” Karuna
After the UK sanctions were imposed the Tamil newspaper “Thamilan” interviewed Karuna about it. Karuna was dismissive saying that the UK sanctions would not affect him or his politics in any way. Karuna denied that he was responsible for any human rights violation. Speaking further he said that if he was guilty of any human rights violation, the UK could have penalised him when he sought refugee status there. “Why didn’t they do it then? Instead they sent me back home safely,” pointed out Karuna. He went on to say that he was not bothered by the UK sanctions.
It is indeed ironic that a man who was deported from the UK years ago has now been forbidden from travelling to the UK due to the sanctions imposed in a different context. Is Karuna being honest in saying that the UK authorities deported him instead of penalising him for alleged human rights violations because he was not guilty of any such offence? What were the circumstances under which he went to the UK 17 years ago and what exactly happened to him then?
