Murugathasan Varnakulasingham, the Tamil youth who self-immolated in protest outside the United Nations in Geneva over the inaction of the international community in the face of the genocide of Tamils, was remembered in London and in Jaffna yesterday.
Murugathasan's mother, Mrs Varnakulasingham and his siblings lit a flame and laid flower garlands on his tombstone whilst remembering his passion and sacrifice at a commemorative event in London yesterday.
In Jaffna, the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) also held a memorial for Murugathasan which was attended by TNPF Secretary S Kajendran and other party activists.
In his parting letter, Murugathasan wrote:
"We Tamils displaced and all over the world loudly raised our problems and asked for help before [the] international community in your own language for three decades. But nothing happened[...] So I decided to sacrifice my life by burning myself before the international community and the UN headquarters."
"The flames over my body will be a torch to guide you through the liberation path," Murugathasan wrote in his letter.
Following his death, Murugathan's brother-in-law, Thavaroopan Sinnathamby, told the BBC:
"He was a refugee in his own country before he came here, so he knew the pain of what the people were going through. He'd go to the demonstrations and no-one was bothering and he wanted to make an impact. I think he wanted to give his life, we feel proud for that."