The second day of Mullivaikkal remembrance week was marked on Thursday to remember those who were massacred in the final days of the armed conflict. 

Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP and general secretary, Selvarajah Kajendran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) lawyer Kandeepan, Attorney General Sukas joined others to pay their respects by lighting a flame at the Mullivaikkal yard, in memory of those who were killed. 

File photograph

Today marks 36 years since 36 Tamils were massacred by Sri Lankan navy officers on board the Kumuthini boat on May 15, 1985. 

Eye witnesses reported seeing six plain clothed Sri Lankan navy officers boarding the Kumuthini boat and pointing a gun at passengers before ordering them to come up to the main deck one by one and shout their name and destination. 

Each passenger was then hacked to death. Witnesses reported seeing hacked body parts and blood across the deck. 

Sri Lankan police have arrested 50 people on Wednesday for allegedly violating coronavirus regulations.

The police were instructed to arrest those who were not wearing masks and were not maintaining social distancing measures. The arrests were carried out under the instructions of Chief Inspector Prasad Fernando who is in charge of the Jaffna headquarters. 

Tamil parliamentarians and politicians have expressed their strong condemnation of the damage caused to the Mullivaikkal memorial monument and the stealing of a memorial stone by the army earlier this week. 

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Selvam Adaikkalanathan visited the site of the vandalised memorial structure on Thursday and told the press that he was convinced that the memorial was damaged by the army.

The Mullaitivu Magistrate Court issued an order on Thursday, prohibiting all types of commemorative activities in the Mullivaikkal area due to concerns related to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka.

The Mullaitivu Police obtained this order from the Court by filing a case against five specific individuals including former Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Ravikaran, head of the organisation of the families of disappeared M.Eswari and Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) Youth Wing leader Peter Illancheliyan.  

Seven police stations in the Mullaitivu district have obtained court injunctions against 27 individuals, including two MPs, preventing them from carrying out Mullivaikkal commemorations.

The applications were put in by the Mullaitivu, Puthukudiyiruppu, Mankulam, Oddusuddan, Mallavi, Iyankankulam and Mulliyawalai police stations.

The 27 individuals include elected politicians and civil society activists. The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) MPs Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and Selvarajah Kajendran were targeted by three different police stations.

The Sri Lankan army and police patrolled the streets of the Northern Province as districts went into lockdown on Friday, with Sri Lanka's stay at home order lasting through the weekend.

The International Commission of Jurists and the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka have strongly condemned the murder of two suspects in police custody which has occurred on two consecutive days.

Dr Hugh McDermott, a member of New South Wales Legislative Assembly, has called on both the Premier and Opposition leader in New South Wales, Australia, to follow the lead of Ontario in recognising Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils and to refer the perpetrators of the genocide to the International Criminal Court.

A flame was lit at the banks of Nandikadal lagoon on Wednesday to mark the first day of Mullivaikkal remembrance week. 

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) youth wing leader Peter IIlancheliyan lit the flame amidst heightened Sri Lankan security force presence.