Photos courtesy of TYO France
Hundreds of French Tamils gathered in Paris earlier this week, condemning the destruction of the Mullivaikal memorial monument and expressing solidarity with Jaffna University students.
What started off as a car rally at La Chapelle on Tuesday 12th January, concluded as a protest at Hôtel des Invalides.
The demonstration organised by Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) France with the help of the French Tamils Co-ordination Committee (CCTF) saw roughly 100 cars as well as approximately 80 people who gathered at Hôtel des Invalides.
The destruction of the Mullivaikal memorial monument which was built to commemorate the lives lost during the Tamil liberation struggle, initially incited protests in front of Jaffna University; a group of students embarked on a hunger strike in a show of resistance. Reconstruction of the memorial monument has since begun at Jaffna University.
The act which also sparked protests in Canada, and Switzerland has been criticised by Tamils, organisations and politicians from all over the world including by French MP François Pupponi, who condemned Sri Lanka and vowed to “fight for recognition of war crimes” through twitter.
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