At least 65 Tamil prisoners have gone in hunger strike in Anuradhapura after being assaulted by Sinhala prison guards on Sunday, a day that the Tamil nation remembered their fallen heroes.
Former Jaffna district parliamentarian MK Sivajilingam told the BBC that most of the victims of the assault were disabled and that the guards went on to destroy a Hindu temple inside the prison.
The prisoners are demanding better protection from authorities after the attack, which led to 5 of the injured being admitted to hospital. TamilNet reported that the guards stripped their victims naked and beat them as a “Heroes Day present”.
The JVP-associated We Are Sri Lankans organisation was denied access to the prison, along with a team of lawyers for the victims.