Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Remembrance event held at Sri Lankan protest site in Colombo

A small commemorative event was held at the anti-government Sri Lankan protest site in Colombo earlier today.

 Image Credits: Amila Udagedara

A speech at the event said the event was "to remember and mourn all those who died, were killed and were disappeared in the war". 

"More specifically, May 18th is to remember the thousands of Tamils - elderly men, women and children - who were caught in a thin strip of land in Mullivaikkal during the last stages of war and underwent untold suffering," the speech added. "May 18th is to remind ourselves the human cost of race oppression faced by minorities in this country to date and the importance of confronting racism as a structural and systemic issue."

The word 'genocide' was not mentioned.

The small scale event at the protest site took place, whilst thousands across the North-East attended several different commemorations across the Tamil homeland, which marked May 18 as Tamil Genocide Day. They gathered despite intimidation, surveillance and harassment from the Sri Lankan military and police. 

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.