Funeral of LTTE cadre held in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2003, 03:38 GMT]
Mr. Aliventhan, a cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died in a motorcycle accident Sunday in Mullaithivu, and a large number of people attended his funeral held at the martyr’s cemetery in Eachankulam in Vavuniya Tuesday, sources in Vavuniya said.

But before his body could be brought to Vavuniya from Puliyankulam through the Sri Lanka Army’s checkpoint in Omanthai, the SLA had refused permission for the body to be transported with LTTE uniform and draped in LTTE flags.

The SLA also stipulated that the public could not attend the funeral and there should be no flag-hoisting functions.

As a result, after arguments and delays, the LTTE had to re-dress the body in normal clothes and remove the LTTE flags before bringing it into the SLA-controlled area of Vavuniya. The body was kept at the LTTE’s political office in Vavuniya for the people to pay their respects.

The body was then taken to the Eachankulam school where the memorial function was headed by Mr. Thiruvady, the head of the LTTE’s policy dissemination division. The mother of Mr. Aliventhan garlanded his body. Ms. Alai and Mr. Ezhilan, the head of the LTTE’s women’s political wing and the head of the political wing respectively in Vavuniya, delivered funeral speeches.

Flags at LTTE offices and camps were lowered to half-mast.

The SLA patrolled the area near the martyr’s cemetery in Eachankulam and said that holding the memorial service at the school, in SLA-controlled area, would be reported to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission as a ceasefire violation.

However, the funeral rites for the LTTE cadre were held without any change.