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Memorials for former Prime Minster SWRD Bandaranaike were held in the South last week, despite the Sri Lankan government restricting gatherings across the North-East citing a COVID risk.
The memorial was at the Nithambuwa Koregolla Bandaranaike Samadhi on the 26 September marking the 62 anniversary of the assassination of Bandaranaike. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk. In attendance in the ceremony were former Presidents and members of Parliament.
Last week Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarasa Kajendren was arrested for paying his respects to Lt Col Thileepan, who sacrificed his life in protest against the failure of the Indian government to honour the pledges made to the Tamil people.
During the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council Session, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, raised her concerns over the continued “surveillance, intimidation and judicial harassment of human rights defenders, journalists and families of the disappeared".
Last September, then UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff highlighted that crackdown on memorialisation events including those that memoralised the fallen Tamil Tigers had a damaging psychological impact which was “retraumatizing and alienating”. This is because it denied victims of a chance to memorialise their experience
“Grieving families have expressed the need to bury or destroy photographs of their deceased loved ones in uniform for fear of harassment by the security forces” he noted.
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