PUDUCHERRY: Pro-Tamil activists attacked the Sri Aurobindo Ashram on Thursday, ransacking its office and damaging glass panes to condemn West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s remark that her party will not comment on issues relating to foreign countries. In a surprise show of support, the CM and Trinamul Congress leader, whose party had quit the UPA last year, had said she will back the Centre on whatever stand it takes.

More than a dozen protestors, owing allegiance to the Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (TPDK) barged into the ashram located in the heart of the tourist town adjacent to a police outpost and damaged flower pots near the Samadhi (memorial) of the revolutionary-turned-philosopher. The agitated mob also ransacked the ashram office, damaging the glass panes that contained the symbol of Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual collaborator, fondly referred to as 'Mother'. A police team rushed to the spot and arrested 15 protestors. The ashram is a popular destination for tourists from across the country and the world.

Mamta Banerjee had, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said, "We leave it for the Central Government to decide on such issues. However, the concerns of the state and the sentiments of the people must be kept in view by the Centre, before taking any decision pertaining to foreign country," she said. "We are deeply concerned about the atrocities meted out to a section of Tamil population in a foreign country," she said.