(Pictures: BattiNews)

A commemorative event for Tamils killed in the 1990 Saththurukondan Massacre, committed by Sri Lankan forces in Batticaloa, was stopped by a court order, preventing relatives of those killed and Tamil politicians to observe the anniversary on Tuesday.

Tamil National Alliance MPs P Ariyanenthiran, P Selvarasa and C Yogeswaran, along with several family members of those massacred, attempted to proceed to the site of the event in Kokkuvil, however police read out a court order which banned the event to “prevent damage to people and properties”, issued by Batticaloa District Court.

At least 184 Tamil men, women and children were hacked to death after being taken to the Sathurukondan army camp, on September 9, 1990.

The relatives and the MPs were forced to go to a temple in Saththurukondan, and lit candles there in remembrance of the dead.

TNA MP Ariyanenthiran condemned the hypocrisy shown by the authorities in cracking down on Tamil remembrance events, while allowing Sinhala and Muslim events to go ahead.

“Muslims and Sinhalese are free to hold events to commemorate their dead, but Tamils are not able to do so,” he said to the Tamil Guardian.

“No one has been brought to justice for the massacres and there is not even an investigation. Now they have even banned us from remembering our kith and kin, with this despicable ban,” he added

According to police spokesperson Ajith Rohana, the event was stopped as there was information that people were planning to commemorate fallen LTTE cadres, reported BBC Tamil.

Ariyanenthiran said that in previous years, the commemoration went ahead untroubled, adding that the latest incident was just one indication of the ever increasing crackdown on the Tamil people of the Northeast.

A previous massacre on the September 5 left at least 158 Tamils dead, as they were seeking refuge in the campus of the Eastern University. Sri Lankan soldiers, with the assistance of Muslim homeguards and pro-government Tamil paramilitaries, took them to another location where they were shot.

An investigation into the massacres, initiated by then-president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1997, identified three captains in the Sri Lankan army as being responsible for the killings. The retired judge who led the inquiry, K Palakidnar said that there was strong evidence for the massacre and urged Kumaratunga to hold the perpetrators to account, however no action was taken by the government.

See below for related articles.

Sri Lanka Massacre - BBC World Service (10 September 2014)

Batticaloa massacre victims remembered - TamilNet (09 September 2000)

A luxury they cannot afford - TamilNet (10 December 1997)