Kanji served across Jaffna as Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week begins

Kanji was served across Jaffna yesterday to mark the beginning of Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week. 

Kanji - a porridge of rice and water - was the only food available to Tamils trapped in the Sri Lankan government declared 'No Fire Zones'. Tamils in the North-East and in the diaspora serve 'Mullivaikkal Kanji' as a reminder of the hardship Tamil people faced in the final phase of the armed conflict. 

On May 11, kanji was distributed in front of a memorial dedicated to Lt Col Thileepan in Nallur. The memorial was organised by the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF). 

Students of the University of Jaffna distributed Mullivaikkal kanji on May 12 in Aaladi, Valvettithurai, near the residence of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

University students collected rice from the local community, prepared the Mullivaikkal kanji, and distributed it in clay pots to residents and passersby.

The University of Jaffna Student Union emphasised that the Tamil people must observe Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week as a period of mourning. 

The Student Union has organised to distribute kanji across the Tamil homeland in the lead up to May 18.

Mullivaikkal kanji was also served at a protest in Thaiyiddy, where Tamil landowners were protesting the illegal construction of a Buddhist temple. 

TNPF MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and former MP Selvarajah Kajendren joined the protest.