German Tamils commemorated the 47th anniversary of Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran’s passing on June 5. Remembrances took place in Berlin, in front of Freie Universitat Berlin and in Johannez Rau Platz, Dusseldorf.
In memory of Sivakumaran’s activism as a member of the Tamil Student Federation (TSF), young attendees of the remembrance were given student ID cards resembling Sivakumaran’s when he was a student at Jaffna Hindu College.
Participants at the commemoration observed a few minutes of silence as a mark of respect to Sivakumaran’s ultimate sacrifice.
They took an oath affirming the Tamil people’s right to freedom and self-determination. The participants swore that “nobody can deny us this right which is granted to us by international law.”
Flags of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were also carried by some members during the remembrance event.
Pon. Sivakumaran was the first Tamil to sacrifice his life in the Tamil liberation struggle.
