British Tamil students marked Maaveerar Naal at the university of Leicester on Wednesday. Lighting a lamp of sacrifice, and laying Gloriosa lillies, students remembered those who had given their lives to the struggle for Tamil Eelam.
The Embassy of the United States in Colombo has released a statement , expressing concern about recent acts of violence by government officials, including the attacks on Tamil students and the beating of a reporter on November 28. The students were attacked during a demonstration against military harassment of Tamil youths commemorating the Tamil National Remembrance Day. The US has called upon Sri Lankan authorities to “exercise restraint and respect peaceful demonstrations”. See full statement below. See here for statement in Tamil and Sinhala . "The United States Embassy in Colombo is...
A group of Buddhist monks and followers, from the Bodu Bala Sena organisation, held a protest outside the Department of Archeology on Thursday , demanding that the governmental authorities protect archeological sites in the Eastern province. Responding to the venerable protesters, the National Heritage minister Mahinda Balasuriya, and the Director General of the department of Archeology, Senerath Dissanayake, said that they would do everything possible to ensure the sites outlined by the monks were 'secure' by January next year.
Speaking to the press on the Sri Lankan military's and Sri Lankan police's attacks on Tamil university students, TNA MP Saravanbhavan said that what he saw was exactly what happened 30 years ago. Stating that the Sri Lankan security forces inherently viewed Tamil university students as the enemy, Saravanabhavan said, "The government should realise that so long as the army and the security forces view the Tamil people and especially the Tamil students as the enemy, reconciliation will not happen." "What happened today and what happened yesterday has pushed back reconciliation by 5 years." See...
Speaking in the Australian senate on Tuesday, the senator for New South Wales, Lee Rhiannon, recalled her past experience of attending a remembrance event with the Tamil community on 27th November, and stressed that she stood by the Tamil people on this very important day. See here for full address, excerpt follows: " For Tamils all around the world, including in Sri Lanka, 27 November marks a very important and hauntingly sad day . In Tamil the day is known as Maaveerar Naal. Veerar means 'warrior' or 'hero'; Maa means 'great'; and Naal means 'day'. It is a day on which millions of Tamils will remember the hundreds and thousands of brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children and the elderly who sacrificed their life in the 26-year-long struggle for their freedom . Last year on this day I joined around 2,000 Tamils in Sydney's west to pay respect to the courage, strength and sacrifice of the Tamil people. The overwhelming distress and pain of the Tamil community as they stood in line to lay down a flower in respect for the fallen was a piercing emotional experience for me . I am in parliament today so I will not be able to join the community, but I still stand beside them as their friend on this significant day .
Students from Jaffna University have been attacked by Sri Lankan police and military after protests against the military’s harassment of Tamil youths on Tuesday. The peaceful demonstrations saw dozens of students rally outside the university, holding banners and shouting slogans. According to TamilNet , four students were arrested and AFP reported that at least 20 sustained injuries, after SL police and military attacked the protestors. Pictures published on TamilNet and some Sri Lankan media shows police beating students.
A parliamentary caucus in Malaysia on abuse of human rights in Sri Lanka, opposed Mahinda Rajapaksa's planned visit to the country, reports the country's Daily Star media site, quoting the Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz as source. The minister also announced that the caucus, consisting of members from both sides of parliament, had been set up following great concerns regarding human rights abuses on the situation on the island, and would be monitoring progress on the UNHRC's resolution. Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said, “We will also send a letter to ask them what action has been taken thus far. We...
Over 400 people from various villages in Salem, Tamil Nadu, held a candle-light vigil for Maveerar Naal in the village of Puliyoor, reports the Times of India. Marking a 21-year-old tradition, men, women and children gathered at the ‘Ponnammaan Memorial Bus Shelter’, holding candles and singing songs in praise of Eelam and the nation’s heroes. Mrs Kanagarathinam from nearby Mettur Dam who attended the event with her husband Mullaivendan said: "The (LTTE) cadres fought for the rights and died for the Sri Lankan Tamils. We salute them for their sacrifice."
Today, the 27th November, in every corner of the world, Eelam Tamils join together in an act of remembrance. From a Gloriosa lily proudly affixed onto a coat lapel, to the collective events of remembrance held in capitals worldwide, to the daring posters reported in the North-East, today the nation remembers. For the Eelam nation, there are of course many days of national remembrance and reflection across the year. After all, it should come as no surprise that a nation ravaged by persecution, genocide and armed conflict, is in a state of frequent grief and mourning. Yet today - Maaveerar Naal - is set apart from all other occasions. It remembers not the finality of death, but the solemnity of sacrifice.
The Sri Lankan military has been increasing its brutal quashing of all remembrance acts in the North-East according to several reports. Following on from reports of remembrance posters being taken down by the military in the North-East, the Daily Mirror reports that five people have been arrested in Akkaraipatuwa, in connection with the posters. TamilNet reports on attempts to intimidate and suppress acts of remembrance across the North-East, including the widespread deployment of the military and navy to threaten Tamils into submission.