Students at the University of Jaffna bypassed a heavy army and police presence around the campus to light a flame at the Mullivaikkal monument and mark Tamil Genocide Day today.

As Tamil people, politicians and civil society remember and pay tribute to the victims of the Mullivaikkal massacre on its twelfth anniversary, local Tamil governments including divisional secretariats and municipal councils also hold vigils in memory of the massacre. 

Jaffna Municipal Council

The Jaffna Municipal Council held a vigil remembering the victims of Mullivaikal with Mayor V.Manivannan leading the proceedings. 

Marking the 12^th anniversary since the massacres in Mullivaikkal, Canadian politicians across all spectrums remember the Tamil genocide with remarks from Prime minister Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Party leader, Jagmeet Singh, with further statements coming from leading MP's and MPP.

Vigils and memorials to the tens of thousands massacred by the Sri Lankan state at Mullivaikkal have taken place across the Tamil homeland, despite an onslaught by the Sri Lankan state in recent days to prevent commemorations.

Sri Lankan army locks down Mullaitivu on eve of Tamil Genocide commemorations

Civil society leader Velan Swamigal led a vigil on Mullivaikkal beach to mark Tamil Genocide Day, in defiance of crackdowns by the Sri Lankan state, including the lockdown of the areas surrounding Mullivaikkal in Mullaitivu.

Commemorating 12 years since the genocidal massacre at Mullivaikkal, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) has issued a statement remembering the approximately 40,000 to 169,796 Tamils slaughtered and noting that despite the passage of time, Sri Lanka has failed to take “any genuine steps towards accountability and justice”.

“The trauma of Mullivaikkal lies in our collective grief, alongside the sorrow associated with the end of the armed resistance against Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist oppression” their statement read.

Marking 12 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’. The total number of Tamil civilians killed during the final months is widely contested.

Parliamentarian and leader of Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootani (TMTK) C.V. Wigneswaran commemorated the twelfth anniversary of the Mullivaikkal massacre at his party office earlier today. 

Wigneswaran, alongside other party cadres, remembered the victims by igniting a large lamp. 

Despite bans imposed by the Sri Lankan government to commemorate the victims of the Mullivaikkal massacre on May 18, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians including M.K. Shivajilingam and Peter Ilancheliyan defied those restrictions and remembered those who perished in the genocide. 

Former parliamentarian M.K. Shivajilingam and Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) Youth Wing leader Peter Ilancheliyan paid respects by ceremoniously lighting a lamp at Nandikadal lagoon this morning. 

Special prayers were conducted this morning in the Vavuniya Karumari Amman temple in memory of those killed in the Mullivaikkal massacres, with devotees praying for their souls to rest in peace. 

The temple priest Prabhakara gurukkal presided over the proceedings in which the victims were memorialised by ceremoniously lighting divine lamps.