A commemoration event to mark the massacres at Mullivaikkal was held at Wellawatte beach in Colombo on May 18, but faced a heavy Sri Lankan police presence and opposition from the Sinhala nationalist Sinhala Ravaya group.
The event, marked by the lighting of memorial lamps and the distribution of Mullivaikkal kanji (porridge), proceeded despite a hostile confrontation from Sinhala Buddhist nationalists.
As the remembrance was underway, members of the far-right Sinhala Ravaya organisation arrived at the venue and voiced strong opposition to the gathering. The group accused attendees of being recipients of LTTE funding, supporters of Palestine, and opponents of Israel.
Sinhala Ravaya is a Sinhala-Buddhist ultranationalist organisation known for its extremist rhetoric and alignment with other notorious groups including Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and Ravana Balaya. All three groups are known for promoting Sinhalese Buddhist supremacy and have long been associated with anti-Muslim and anti-Tamil campaigns.
As members of the public lit lamps and paid tribute to the dead, Sinhala Ravaya activists continued to raise their voices, creating a tense and confrontational atmosphere at the site.
As the event drew to a close and attendees began to leave, the protests escalated in volume. In response, Sri Lankan police significantly increased their presence, and the commemoration was concluded under tight security.
Notably, former Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran was among those in attendance.
This is the third year in which such an event is taking place in Colombo, and it continues to omit using the word “genocide”.
Across the Tamil homeland and around the world, May 18 was marked as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.
