Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Government says May 19 will be marked as remembrance not victory

The Sri Lanka's cabinet spokesperson, Rajitha Senaratne, announced on Friday that May 19th, which was previously marked as 'Victory Day' will now be commemorated as 'Remembrance Day' in order to "recall the sacrifices of all those who had fought to maintain the unity and integrity of the country irrespective of their ethnicity".

"It will be a War Heroes Commemoration Day as well as a civilian Remembrance Day," Minister Senaratne told reporters.

Despite the change in name however, the Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena, will be overseeing a military parade on that day in the southern city of Matara, reports Colombo Page.

The announcement comes just days after the the minister of public administration, Karu Jayasuriya, warned against any remembrance of fallen LTTE cadre.

“Anyone trying to commemorate the LTTE which was a terror group will not be approved by the government,” said Mr Jayasuriya.

“There are elements who want to misuse the new democratic freedom in the country to show that terrorism could rise its head again," he added.

May 18th, which marks six years since the end of the armed conflict, is marked as a day of national mourning by Tamils across the world, when the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and LTTE cadres is remembered.

This year, members of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) announced they would be marking May 13 - 19 as 'Genocide Week' in order to remember the genocide of the Tamil nation by Sri Lankan armed forces.

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.