A boycott campaign has taken off in the North-East with customers of Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank (HNB) closing their accounts, after the bank suspended two employees at its Kilinochchi branch for holding a remembrance event on May 18.
Across various social media platforms, customers of the bank have been posting letters they have written to their branch managers requesting their account be closed after the incident was reported earlier this week.
“Your decision… shows your dominant attitude against innocent Tamil people,” read one letter written in English. “The whole world knows that our people were killed in thousands.”
Last week, staff at the Kilinochchi branch held a remembrance event on May 18 to remember the tens of thousands massacred by Sri Lankan state forces during the end of the armed conflict. The bank responded by suspending two employees and stated it “takes very seriously any sentiment or act that is in violation of, or poses a threat to the morale of citizens of Sri Lanka”.
This news has not been given publicity by national papers due to instruction given by leading politician.