.png)
Innasimuttu Sathyaseelan, a teacher in Killinochi, has once again been summoned by the Sri Lankan Police Counterterrorism Investigation Division (CTID) over an art installation created by his students, and asked to name all the students involved.
The installation, which was displayed at an internal sports event in March 2024, depicted traditional Tamil areas on the island. This follows a similar incident in August 2024, when Sathyaseelan and other staff members were interrogated by the CTID about the artwork, which the police deemed suspicious.
Reflecting on the distress felt by his fellow staff members, Sathyaseelan highlighted how the Sri Lankan police’s interrogations have been suppressing the Tamil people’s freedom of expression.
"What is the Anura government – which promised to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act – doing?” said Sathyaseelan.
“They are doing the same thing previous governments did. I am a government employee. There is a proper way to question me. How can intelligence officers enter the school without any permission? There is no complaint, no case. It is unacceptable to treat us like criminals. No matter which government comes to power, the problems facing our people continue.”
The art installation, created by the students, took the form of a map that symbolised the traditional Tamil territories, areas that were historically linked to Tamil culture and heritage.
The design mirrored the iconic archways in front of a Thuyilum Ilam, or resting places, cemeteries where the bodies of Tamil freedom fighters were buried. These cemeteries, which housed the remains of thousands of Tamil fighters, were systematically bulldozed by the Sri Lankan state in an effort to erase the memory of the Tamil struggle and the sacrifice made by the Tamil people.
.png)
In his most recent summoning, Sathyaseelan was questioned for nearly 10 hours at the CTID headquarters in Colombo. The police officers probed him relentlessly about the map displayed at the school event, which marked areas where Tamil people lived. The officers even asked Sathyaseelan whether he was attempting to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the organisation that waged a decades-long struggle for Tamil self-determination. They pressured him to provide the names of the students who created the map, but Sathyaseelan stood firm, refusing to give in to their demands.
This is not the first time that the Sri Lankan police have targeted Tamil communities for expressing their cultural and historical identity. Earlier in 2023, the police initiated an investigation into a decorative battle tank and a Karthigai poo (Tamil national flower) that were displayed at a sports competition at Thellipalai Union College. The use of the Karthigai poo during Maaveerar Naal commemorations in Mullaitivu was also prohibited by the police, who labelled it a symbol associated with the LTTE.
These incidents are part of a broader trend of systematic suppression of Tamil heritage and freedom of speech. The continued harassment of Tamil teachers, students, and communities for honouring their history and their heroes highlights the ongoing attempts to erase the Tamil struggle from the island’s collective memory.