Tamil parliamentarian Selvarajah Kajendran confronted Sri Lankan police officers as they stormed Maaveerar Naal commemorations in Batticaloa on Monday.
Uniformed officers pulled down red and yellow bunting, as well as tearing lamps out of the ground and disconnecting speakers as the remembrance ceremony was underway.
Kajendran, an MP with the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), confronted the officers with part of the exchange caught on camera.
See the video and translation below.
“Today, there’s thousands of people gathered here. The court has allowed us to commemorate today.
You’re wearing shoes, you’re tearing down flags, you’re doing so much injustice. You’re threatening women, you’ve come with batons. Do you not have wives, children, mothers or fathers?
Do you not have shame or a conscience? Will you do anything just because you’re given a salary? Is this the job of the police? The Rajapaksas who robbed the country get royal treatment but we can’t light lamps for the people who sacrificed their lives in the fight against Sinhalese chauvinism?
This is your truth & justice?”
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