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ITAK claims Batticaloa remembrance events disrupted 

18 May 2022

 
  • MP Rasamanickam claims commemoration by 600 families affected by Batti Police removing banners 
  • Asks PM Ranil to intervene 
  Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam yesterday (18) said that commemoration events held to remember those who had died in the final stages of the war in 2009 were disrupted in Batticaloa.  “As you are aware, the commemoration of the people who were killed in Mullivaikkal is happening around the country, including in ‘GotaGoGama’ at the Galle Face Green. Unfortunately in Batticaloa, around 600 families, whose loved ones were killed during the final stages of the war, have had their commemoration event disrupted,” Rasamanickam said in Parliament yesterday.  He noted that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that peaceful commemorations are allowed as long as there is no evidence for any proscribed organisations.  “Right now, the Batticaloa Police has come to disrupt the proceedings at Batticaloa and has asked to remove the banners. These banners have nothing about proscribed organisations on them. So, I urge the Premier to ensure that these events are not disrupted, and to allow families to remember their lost loved ones in peace,” requested Rasamanickam.  Yesterday – 18 May – marked the day the war officially came to an end, with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), following the death of its Leader V. Prabhakharan. Tamils around the island regard it as a day of remembrance and commemoration, also known as the Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day, in memory of those who were killed during those final stages of the war in May, 2009. Consecutive governments have been criticised for hindering commemoration events and the memorialisation of the dead by the Tamil community. 


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