Sri Lanka’s minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Patali Champika Ranawaka on Monday called on the government to take legal action against Tamils commemorating fallen LTTE cadres on Tamil National Remembrance Day (Maaveerar Naal). “Anyone commemorating the LTTE must be held responsible for the assassinations committed by the LTTE during the war,” Mr Champika was quoted by the Colombo Gazette as saying. But he is against investigating the assassinations committed by the Sri Lankan forces on Tamil civilians during the war.
His comments come as tens of thousands of Tamils across the North-East gathered at Thuyilum Illams and memorial sites to remember their next of skins who were killed by the Sri Lankan forces.
In London The Excel hall and the Oxford venue was full and people were queuing to show there respect to the Tamils killed by Sri Lankan forces in the civil war.
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is a communist and Marxist–Leninist party and political movement in Sri Lanka.[1] The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the ruling governments in 1971 (SLFP) and 1987–89 (UNP). The 1971 uprising led by the party was an unsuccessful Marxist youth rebellion that claimed 30,000 youth lives.
In Sri Lanka two unsuccessful Sinhala uprising against the Sri Lankan government by JVP are allowed to remember their next of skins but Tamils are NOT allowed to remember their next of skins killed by Sri Lankan forces justifies the claim that discrimination against Tamils continue under the new government as well.
The Sri Lankan Civil war was very costly, killing over 100,000+ civilians and 50,000+ fighters from both sides of the conflict. The “Tamil Centre for Human Rights” recorded that from 1983 to 2004, 47,556 Tamil civilians were murdered by both the Sri Lankan government and IPKF forces. It is claimed by UN officials that more than 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan forces in May 2009 alone.
TNA MP Shanthi Skandarajah today requested the government to allow those in the Northern Province to commemorate their war heroes by visiting the cemeteries in which they were buried.
Ms Skandarajah who was speaking during the committee stage debate in Parliament today said residents in the Province should be allowed to visit cemeteries and commemorate their war heroes.
She also stressed the need to restore cemeteries in which the war heroes were buried. She went on to say that proper programmes should be launched to help women who were widowed by the war.
“These women should be empowered to start self employment schemes and not be obliged t work for others,” she said.