Former Northern Provincial Council (NPC) member, Thurairasa Ravikaran questioned why Mullaitivu police issued an order against him carrying out Mullivaikkal commemorations, despite them ignoring a Sinhala festival that violated COVID-19 guidelines earlier this week.
“Does the Mullaitivu police only care about stopping the commemoration of Mullivaikkal? Why did the police just ignore the Sinhala people celebrating a festival in Kurunthur Malai, despite violating coronavirus guidelines?” asked Ravikaran.
The Mullaitivu Magistrate Court issued an order on Thursday – after the Mullaitivu Police filed a case against five specific individuals including Thurairasa Ravikaran –
prohibiting all types of commemorative activities in the Mullivaikkal area due to concerns related to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka.
Ravikaran stated the Mullaitivu Police station’s Officer in Charge delivered the order at his home on Saturday.
The order states that no meetings or Mullivaikkal commemorations are allowed to be held in the Mullivaikkal area or anywhere within the Mullaitivu police jurisdiction, during this COVID-19 period. The order will remain in effect starting on May 16 through to May 22. This development follows intense efforts by the police and army to obstruct the commemoration of the Tamil Genocide Day on May 18.
“We accept and respect this order issued by the Magistrate Court. However, on Monday 10th May 2021 within the same Mullaitivu police jurisdiction, a large group of a large number of Sinhala Buddhist monks, Sri Lankan archaeologists and military personnel gathered there to carry out a big Buddhist festival. This festival violated COVID-19 guidelines but the Mullaitivu police turned a blind eye to this.”
He asked the police, “But when we ask to commemorate our massacred relatives in Mullivaikkal, they file legal cases in court against these commemorative activities as if to show they care about the country.”
Ravikaran insisted, “The genuine concerns were lost when the police decided to ignore the festival carried out [in Kurunthur Malai]. This confirms that the Mullaitivu police act one way for the Sinhala people and in another for Tamil people.”
Read the full order here (in Tamil).
