Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake will now attend Sri Lanka’s 16th National War Heroes’ Commemoration Ceremony as the chief guest, the government confirmed on Sunday, following backlash over earlier reports that he would not participate in the state-sponsored event.
The ceremony is set to take place on Monday, 19 May 2025, at the National War Hero Cenotaph in Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte. It will pay tribute to the "men and women of the Tri-Forces, Police and Civil Security Department who made the supreme sacrifice in defending the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the nation".
The event is the Sri Lankan state’s annual commemoration of its military victory in 2009, which saw tens of thousands of Tamils massacred in what is being increasingly recognised as a genocide. It is often accompanied by militarised celebrations that are criticised by Tamil civil society and international human rights groups as triumphalist and exclusionary.
The latest announcement reverses earlier plans that Deputy Minister of Defence Major General Aruna Jayasekara would attend in place of the Sri Lankan president. Reports of Dissanayake’s initial absence triggered criticism from hardline nationalist elements and members of the political opposition.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), led by allies of the former Rajapaksa regime, held a press conference on Sunday demanding both President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya attend the event.
SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam told reporters:
“It is reported that the President will not attend the event and it is a big mistake done by the President in the name of the war heroes who sacrificed their lives.”
“The SLPP, as a party, is requesting President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the head of state and Harini Amarasuriya as the Prime Minister to attend the National War Heroes' Commemoration Ceremony tomorrow.”
Kariyawasam added that upon learning of the President’s expected absence, the SLPP requested permission from the Defence Ministry to hold a separate war commemoration featuring former president and accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the genocide in 2009. However, the Ministry reportedly rejected that request.
“However, the SLPP, as a national duty, has decided to hold a War Heroes' Commemoration near the war memorial on May 20 at 5.00 pm,” Kariyawasam said.
Whilst the Sri Lankan state prepares to celebrate “War Heroes”, for Tamils across the North-East and in the diaspora, the period is observed as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, mourning the mass slaughter of civilians in Mullivaikkal. An estimated 169,796 Tamil civilians remain unaccounted for and are thought to have been killed in just the final weeks alone.