Sri Lanka has banned any activities to commemorate the Tamil fighters that died in the armed conflict.
Army spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya has said that any attempts to promote or glorify the LTTE, both directly and indirectly, under the guise of media freedom will be punished, in relation to the upcoming Heroes' Day on November 27, when Tamils remember those that gave their lives for the struggle.
"Promoting and propagating separatist ideology within Sri Lanka directly or indirectly, even by using media freedom, and attempting to commemorate or glorify terrorists that belonged to a proscribed organisation would be illegal," he said.
The TNA has rejected the ban, with party stalwart Suresh Premachandran saying to the Colombo Gazette that although the party was not planning to hold large scale commemorative events on Heroes’ Day, it may hold smaller events.
Premachandran further said that the families of those killed in the war, both civilian and combatants, have a right to hold events to commemorate their dead.
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