Right : Dinesh Gunawardane
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardane, is set to meet the British High Commission and will convey the government’s “displeasure” over the projection of a Karthigaipoo on to the UK Houses of Parliament.
The projection, organised by British Tamil activists, lit up the Houses of Parliament with the image of a Karthigaipoo flower, the national flower of Tamil Eelam, and the words “We Remember” and “We remember the heroes who fought for freedom from Sri Lankan state genocide”.
Read more : UK Houses of Parliament lit with Karthigaipoo to mark Maaveerar Naal
“Since we cannot hold mass public gatherings on November 27th due to restrictions in place due to the public health crises, we decided to commemorate our heroes in another form” said Malathy*, a young activist and one of the organisers of the projection tribute.
Across the homeland, multiple arrests were made as the Sri Lankan military cracked down on those who decided to pay their respects. The crackdown came even though a court order had allowed Tamils to pay their respects in private if they wished to.
*The activists's name has been changed to protect their identity.