Message of hope to Tamils
By ANDREA FILMER, andrea@thestar.com.my
Friday August 13, 2010
GLOBETROTTING human rights activists and environmentalists T. Srinivasa Rao, 48, and R. Gnanasekaran, 47, arrived again in Malaysia for an unscheduled stop in their seventh expedition around the world.
The Indian national duo, who are circling the globe to raise awareness on global warming and other issues, arrived in Kuala Lumpur recently after travelling in Europe.
Fighting for human rights: Srinivasa (left) and Gnanasekaran posing outside Batu Caves on their way to Penang from Kuala Lumpur.
“Malaysia was actually our first stop outside India on this expedition that started from New Delhi in January 2009,” said Srinivasa Rao.
“We arrived in Malaysia a month later. We left for Indochina and then travelled to Europe.”
He said the original plan was to tour South America right after Europe but developments in the Sri Lankan civil war lead them to add a second trip to Malaysia.
“About 100,000 people have either been killed or affected by the war.
“This has affected the morale of Tamils all over the world. We want to spread a message of hope to them so that they continue to fight for justice,” he said.
Srinivasa Rao added that Malaysia was a good place to start as it was home to some one million Tamils.
Srinivasa Rao and Gnanasekaran started their global awareness campaigns in 1986.
They made their first expedition on bicycle covering 68,000km.
The duo have since upgraded their mode of transport, this time riding a Tucson four-by-four sponsored by Hyundai.
To date, they have driven over 700,000km, circling the globe.
Srinivasa Rao and Gnanasekaran, who are both electrical engineers, headed back to Kuala Lumpur on Aug 7 and then to Johor before leaving for Singapore at the end of the month.
They will then head to Buenos Aeres and travel through South America before arriving in Mexico in time for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December.
From there, they head to the United Nations headquarters in New York which is their final destination.
Courtesy_
