An event marking the beginning of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week commenced on Monday (May 11) in Valikamam South as the Tamil nation commemorates 17 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal. 

The remembrance event was held in front of the council premises at a specially established Mullivaikkal memorial centre, where floral tributes were paid in memory of those who were killed by Sri Lanka's armed forces in Mullivaikkal in the final months of the armed conflict.

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader, C. Joseph Vijay was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday during a ceremony held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.

Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Vijay, who assumed office after TVK emerged as the single largest party in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly election and secured the backing of 120 MLAs in the 234-member House. 

An 88-foot Buddha statue newly constructed at the Nainativu Rajamaha Viharaya in Nainativu, Jaffna, was ceremonially unveiled this week, drawing large numbers of Sinhala Buddhist devotees from southern Sri Lanka.

Members of the Batticaloa Municipal Council marked Mullivaikkal Remembrance Week during the council’s monthly sitting on 7 May, wearing black ribbons and paying tribute to Tamils who were killed during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009.

On May 10, 2009, Catholic Priest Father Francis Joseph wrote to the Pope from inside the No Fire Zone, calling on the Church to break its silence on the massacre of Tamils.

We publish his letter in full below.

Father Joseph disappeared after surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army alongside hundred of LTTE cadres and high ranking LTTE officials in May 2009.

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To His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI,