Tamil mothers of the disappeared marked Sri Lanka’s ‘Independence Day’ as a Black Day today, stating that the day celebrated by the Sri Lankan state represents not freedom, but the beginning of decades of suffering that culminated in the enforced disappearance of their children.
Relatives of the disappeared made the remarks while addressing the media following a protest held at their long-running protest site in Vavuniya.
Speaking on behalf of the mothers, they said that the independence gained in 1948 failed to deliver justice, equality or protection for Tamils and instead marked the start of a “long and dark journey” that led to the disappearance of thousands of Tamil children.
For 3,271 days, they have remained at their protest site in Vavuniya town, refusing to abandon their demand for answers. They said that despite rain and scorching heat, changes in governments and shifting political promises, their central demand has never changed.
While Sri Lanka attained independence in 1948, the mothers said that this independence did not protect their rights, respect their language, or safeguard their lands. They traced the roots of this injustice to the political structure created by the Soulbury Commission, accusing Britain of withdrawing hastily, entrenching majority rule and leaving Tamils without constitutional protection.
They stated that before colonial rule, Tamils possessed their own political authority, land and systems of administration. This historical reality, they said, was deliberately excluded from the constitution, an omission that later transformed into legally sanctioned injustice and enabled the enforced disappearance of their children.
Today, they said, they continue to pay the price for those historic decisions with their tears at the protest site. Their demands, they stressed, remain simple and unchanged: Where are their children? Who is responsible? When will justice be delivered?
