Ravana is described as a revered devotee of Shiva, a great scholar, a capable ruler and a maestro of the Veena, a musical instrument. He is the greatest king who lived in Sri Lanka and he is worshipped by Tamil Saivas (One of the religions which is identified as Hindu religion now). Tamils living the world over pay great respect to him as he is one of the respectful ancestors of Tamil ethnicity.

Every year Ravana is burnt to represent the win over evil during Dasshera celebration in many parts of India. At the same time, there are few places in India such as Tamilnadu and Kerala where people worship Ravana as god. In fact, in India, we have several temples for this yesteryear king among which most of them are in Tamilnadu. He was supporter of equality to all.

Ravan Dahan (burning of Ravan Effigy symbolising win over evil) is one of the social ills that humiliates the deep rooted sentiments of Tamils. It is also to be noted that in a Multi-cultural country like Australia that grows due to contributions made by several ethnic groups including Tamils, allowing this particular aspect in Deepavali festival is against multiculturalism. Moreover, the Australian government must stop providing the tax payers' money to an outrageous even like this. As a consequence, we request you to stop the burning of Effigies of Ravana on any occasion now and in the future.

Burning of King Ravana effigy can never be accepted since it hurts Tamils, one of the kindest ethnic groups around the world.

This evil celebration should be banned and stopped which offends many Ravana believers in Australia. This should not be supported and encouraged by Councils in Australia. However, other aspects of Deepavali celebration can be continued and we support our brotherly Indians. We would like to reiterate that we are not against any other aspects of this event apart from Ravan Dahan.

Celebrating anyone's death is inhumane whether it is based on religious belief or history? Please do justify yourself.

We, Tamils living in Australia, love all ethnic groups and respect other cultures but, we expect the same from others too.