Tamil efforts to commemorate Maaveerar Naal “puts them at the forefront of the fight against hegemony and authoritarianism” said People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), in a statement released today condemning the “exceptionally vicious response” of the Sri Lankan security forces.

“While the heightened repression is a consequence of the strengthened authoritarian regime under Rajapaksa, this didn’t start with them,” said the group. "It is crucial to understand the structural causes, rooted in the Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist nature of the state, that enables the state to perpetrate repression and genocide - across decades and across governments.”

“Anything that is a challenge to the Sinhala Supremacists narrative, be it the protests by the families of the disappeared, or as small a symbol as the lighting of a candle in remembrance, is a threat to the state’s narrative….It is this inherent contradiction – the clash between Tamil nationhood and the Sri Lankan idea of Sinhala hegemony – that is at the heart of this conflict,” they added.

The organization expressed their “deep concerns for numerous arrests” and said they would be “closely monitoring events,” but praised Tamil efforts to commemorate their war dead despite Sri Lankan repression. 

"The mass courage shown by Tamils again puts them at the forefront of the fight against hegemony and authoritarianism,” said PEARL. “This must be encouraged and furthered.”

“Without external intervention in support of Tamil people’s aspirations for justice, accountability and a sustainable political solution, the prospects for progress are dim,” the statement continued. “The international community’s tacit and overt support for Sri Lanka’s ethnocratic state, since colonial times and continuing till date, has enabled and encouraged Sinhala supremacism. In the interest of sustainable peace, international engagement with the Sri Lankan state must be recalibrated.”

Read the full statement here.