Valaichenai police have demolished a memorial erected at Tharavai Thuyilum Illam, Batticaloa, to commemorate fallen LTTE cadres on Maaveerar Naal.
Valaichenai police stated that the memorial had been erected illegally and was demolished after obtaining a court order to remove it.
The memorial was set up by Tamils ahead of Maaveerar Naal so that a commemoration could take place on November 27. It was constructed using the last remaining rubble from tombstones of fallen fighters that the Sri Lankan state had bulldozed previously.
Photographs from the scene shows a Sri Lankan official hacking at the memorial with a pickaxe.
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The memorial before it was demolished
Every year in the lead up to Maaveerar Naal, Sri Lanka ramps up its crackdown on Tamil memorialisation. In previous years, local courts have banned public events and issued court orders to prevent the organisation of commemoration events.
Earlier this week, Mallakam Magistrate Court rejected a number of petitions filed by Sri Lankan police to ban Maaveerar Naal commemorations in Jaffna this week. Petitions filed by Manipay, Palaly, Thellipalai and Achuveli police were all dismissed by Mallakam Magistrate Court.
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