A remembrance event marking the fourth day of Tamil genocide remembrance week was held on Friday in Kiran, Batticaloa district, as part of the ongoing commemorations marking the 17th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide.
The event was organised under the arrangements of the Homeland Action Front (Thayaha Seyalani) and formed part of a wider series of remembrance programmes being held across the Tamil homeland ahead of May 18 commemorations.
The programme in Kiran was organised by the Homeland Action Front’s Kiran area coordinator Aravinthan and attended by Valaichenai Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Suthakaran, Homeland Action Front coordinator Selvakumar, religious leaders, local council members, organisation members and members of the public.
During the event, participants lit memorial flames and paid floral tributes in remembrance of those who were killed during the final stages of the genocide in 2009.
Mullivaikkal kanji was also distributed to the public in a symbolic act of remembrance recalling the rice water porridge consumed by Tamil civilians trapped in Mullivaikkal as they struggled to survive amid starvation, displacement and relentless bombardment by the Sri Lankan military.
Across the North-East, Tamil genocide remembrance week continues to be observed through public memorial events, kanji distributions and religious observances honouring the tens of thousands of Tamils massacred during the final phase of the genocide.
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