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Remembrance event urges Tamils to own justice project, establish genocidal intent of Sinhala state

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 May 2020, 07:11 GMT]
The UN and the West, adopting a “soft approach” towards the “Sinhala state” have not only paved the way for diluting the gravity of its crimes. They also emboldened the SL State to wage unabatedly its post-2009 “structural genocide” against Tamils in the North-East, said the declaration of the main May 18 Remembrance event, held at Mu'l'livaaykkaal on Monday. One of the lessons learnt by the Tamils was that they must be careful in trusting anyone, who portray themselves as the saviours of Tamils. Demanding justice for the genocide must be a mechanism to pursue the cause of Tamil national question, especially by “proving the intent of the genocide,” the statement read by Fr Leo Armstrong proclaimed. Around three-hundred Eezham Tamils braved the seven-layered SL military blockade in their resolve to mark the eleventh May 18 Remembrance and Awakening Day against Tamil genocide emotionally.



The declaration also highlighted the necessity for “parallel efforts focussed on Tamil nation building”.

“Becoming a social movement based on Tamil nationalism that served as resistance and solution for Tamil national question is critical,” it said.

Seeking a political solution within a unitary nation structure would be futile, the statement underlined while calling for a “democratic model of federalism” as the solution for Tamil national question.

“Acknowledging Tamil nation and its sovereignty would pave the way for establishing the collective rights of the Tamils,” the declaration said.

The Tamil version of the declaration upheld the Eezham Tamil identity.



The soldiers of the occupying Sinhala military were deployed across all the roads towards the venue.

Journalists who travelled from Jaffna to Mu'l'livaaykkaal said they had to spend hours at seven different military points where the people and their political representatives, including parliamentarians, were turned back.

People from Eastern province were refused entry at the provincial border. People from Mannaar and Vavuniyaa were also blocked from reaching the memorial event. The journalists said there were seven military points, at Ezhuthu-madduvaa'l, Iyakkachchi, Elephant Pass, Neththali-aa'ru, Visuvamadu, Kaiveali at Puthukkudiyiruppu and Iraddai-vaaykkaal near Mu'l'livaaykkaal.

However, some parliamentarians managed to reach the venue avoiding the checkposts, they said. At least three hundred people took part in the event where measures against the spread of COVID-19, such as proper social distancing, were practised.

Saiva priest Thirugnanasambandan kurukka'l from Kumuzha-munai Katpakavinyaakar temple and Catholic priest Fr Leo Armstrong presided the remembrance event.

While the common event was marked at Mu'l'livaaykkaal, the people across the occupied country of Eezham Tamils are set to mark the remembrance in their residences and toll the temple bells at 7:00 pm to commemorate the thousands of the people and their fighters who perished in the genocidal war.



Full text of the declaration follows:




May 18 Declaration – 2020
11th year Mullivaikal Commemoration
Mullivaikal

As we commemorate the 11th year of Mullivaikal Tamil Genocide, that remains the culmination of the institutionalised violence perpetrated by Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, we pay homage to our kith and kin who were murdered mercilessly 11 years ago, carrying forward their sacred aspirations and dreams of freedom and liberation as we honour this national day of mourning.

The Tamils have been oppressed historically by the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism that perpetrated pogroms over the years. Witnessed by the international community the Mullivaikal Tamil Genocide was committed with the assistance of the countries and the structural genocide continues in the provinces of North -East. Exploiting the global order, the Sinhala state continues to commit structural genocide in the land that traditionally belongs to Tamils. Demerging North-East and militarising them intensely, the Sinhala state has been waging a psychological operation in order to oppress the collective resistance to the Sinhala oppression.

Electing the incumbent president with only Sinhala-Buddhist votes, Sri Lanka has constructed a new political culture where it has proved that without the minority groups it would elect the president.

The international community recognised that the incumbent president committed war crimes as he led the last phase of the war in 2009. Electing a war criminal with only Sinhala-Buddhist votes, a new political culture is constructed and the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism has strengthened its deeper hegemony. Sinhala state continues to remind the Tamils that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhala-Buddhists thus ethnic scapegoating the Tamils till today.

Having elected the president who committed war crimes, the Sinhala state has forced the Tamils to demand justice from the perpetrators which is contradictory. Bringing a person who committed war crimes to power, the Sinhala state is trying to justify the war that it conducted at the expense of the thousands of lives thus giving a moral legitimacy to war and its consequences. The current government has promoted the war criminals and genocidaires to the highest posts projecting them as heroes of Sri Lanka and the culture of impunity continues to persist.

Presidential pardon of the army officer Sunil Rathnayake should be perceived as part of an institutionalised culture of impunity. The arrest and imprisonment of army officer who was found guilty of murdering eight Tamils in Mirusuvil is of a very rare case in the history of Sri Lanka, releasing under presidential pardon has strengthened the belief that the Tamils has on judiciary that it would not deliver justice to the Tamils. There are three children among the killed. This was an example of demanding justice from the perpetrators.

The Tamils have lost their hope in the judiciary. They demand international investigation into crimes perpetrated, including last phase of the war, from the UN, who have proposed a hybrid mechanism which was a failure in Sri Lanka. Knowing the fact that the hybrid mechanism has failed in Sri Lanka the UN proposing the same looks uncanny.

The UN and the West adopted a soft approach to Sri Lanka inspite of its history of human rights violations. This has led the Tamils to assume that the UN and the West would want to soften the gravity of crimes thus letting the Sinhala state to commit structural genocide of Tamils in the North-East. We, the Tamils are saddened to see that the UN and the West have become the bystanders and onlookers of structural genocide.

The lessons learnt in post-Mullivaikal is that the Tamils are not ready to have trust on anyone who would portray as the saviour of Tamils rather the Tamils believe in its peoples’ power in the wake of weapons being silenced. The weapons that we have now are ‘ collective Tamil victimhood and Tamil national memory’. The deeper hegemony of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism is not going to render the Tamils the political solution to the Tamil national question. Institutionalisation of Tamil victimhood and Tamil national memory remains a void. Institutionalising the Tamil victimhood and Tamil national memory has become inevitable in order to pursue international mechanism into probing the crimes committed the genocidaire state. Uniting the resources of the Tamils for the same cause is essential to bring the genocidaire state to international criminal courts or specialised tribunal court established by the UN.

Advocating for, in order to bring the genocidaire state before the justice, institutionalising the witnesses and evidences is indispensable. Becoming a social movement based on Tamil nationalism that served as resistance and solution for Tamil national question is critical. Acknowledging Tamil nation and its sovereignty would pave the way for establishing the collective rights of the Tamils.

Demanding justice for the Mullivaikal genocide is a mechanism that could be used to pursue the cause of Tamil national question especially proving the intent of the genocide. The Sinhala state has institutionalised intent inherent in Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism to eliminate the Tamils from Sri Lanka. By establishing the intent that is inherent we prove that the Tamils are a distinct nation with language, history, culture and ethnicity. North-East traditionally belongs to Tamils. Proving the genocidal intent of the Sinhala state the Tamils could strengthen the cause of Tamil self-determination.

Preparing grounds towards seeking justice for Mullivaikal genocide, there has to be parallel efforts focussed on Tamil nation building. Preserving and strengthening the efforts related to Tamil ethnic identity, reinforcement of fabric of the society and deconstruction of elements that do not support strengthening Tamil national cause, strategic efforts towards Tamil cause oriented goals, sustaining the Tamil economy and political strategies that pave the way for political solution based on plurinational democracy. This is the historical obligation that we Tamils are expected to be bound by.

Seeking a political solution within a unitary nation structure would be futile and an effort to fragment the collective rights of the Tamils and the history has proved so. Plurinational democratic model of federalism is the solution for Tamil national question on which the Tamils believe.

As we remember our dearly beloved who have been massacred, we renew the sacred dream they had for the Tamils whose freedom remains supreme. Seeking the same cause trusting in peoples power and Tamil nationalism let this day be an awakening for us reminding us of the task entrusted to us .

As Tamils let us commit ourselves to our freedom as our supreme goal.


Mullivaikal commemoration team

Chronology: