Colombo destroys Mu'l'livaaykkaal memorial monument at Jaffna University

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 2021, 23:51 GMT]
The occupying SL military and the police have razed to the ground Mu'l'livaaykkaal Tamil genocide monument, situated within the premises of the University of Jaffna. The destruction took place Friday night sending shockwaves across the occupied homeland and the diaspora. Despite the students' protest, the SL military went ahead bulldozing the statue. The Tamil people and their civic leaders who rushed to the site to protest were blocked at the university entrance. The Sinhala military and police personnel used abusive language against the protesters, the students said. The destruction has taken place a day after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wrapped up his three-day visit to Colombo. In the meantime, Tamil political party leaders are scheduled to discuss their demands to the United Nations on international investigations of Tamil genocide on Saturday.



The Commander of SLA Division 512 from Koappaay had recently visited the venue of the monument and the Vice-Chancellor of the University claimed it was a ‘friendly’ visit. The students condemned the VC for collaborating with the SL military and the police.

The student community erected the monument on the 10th Mu'l'livaaykkaal Remembrance in 2019 in memory of the Eezham Tamils, who perished in the 2009 genocidal onslaught in Vanni.

The SL Minister for Higher Education, University Grants Commission and the secretariat of the former SL President were attempting to stop the monument's construction at that time.

As the students proceeded with the erection of the statue, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor R. Vigneswaran was ‘punished’ by the SL State.

The student activists said they would be discussing the next step of protests on Saturday.

Eezham Tamils should note those who abscond from condemning the destruction, especially the so-called rights organisations and the civil society activists from the South who delivered lectures on memorialisation in Jaffna, commented student activists.

The civic councils in the North-East should also consider passing resolutions to dismantle the statues put up by the SL military in violation of the laws that govern them, they said.



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