Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Sri Lanka bans Tamil Remembrance Day

The Sri Lankan Government has banned all forms of commemorations of the Tamil National Remembrance Day.

Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said today, Sri Lanka will urge other countries to follow suit.

The ban comes as the Tamil people in the North-East defiantly commemorated the National Remembrance Day in the face of increased militarisation and threats by Sri Lankan security forces.

Rambukwella also defended the attack of Tamil political prisoners by guards at Anuradhapuram prison on November 27, which resulted in injuries to several inmates.

According to the minister, if the guards didn’t stop the plans, Sinhalese prisoners would have attacked Tamil inmates.

“Fifty three hardcore LTTE cadres including two condemned to death were making surreptitious arrangements to hold ‘Maaveer Day’ at the Anuradhapura prison,” the minister said.

He claimed subsequent searches resulted in the find of mobile phones and posters of the LTTE.

See related articles:

Tamil defiance in the Eelam homeland (30 Nov 2011)

Jaffna uni students detail their defiant act of remembrance (29 Nov 2011)

Prison guards attack Tamil detainees over Heroes’ Day (27 Nov 2011)

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.