Tamils distribute kanji on third day of Mullivaikkal remembrance week amidst police surveillance

Tamils in the North-East continued to serve kanji across the homeland as part of commemoration events taking place during Mullivaikkal remembrance week. 

In Mullaitivu, families of the disappeared defiantly distributed kanji today despite being targetted by plainclothes Sri Lankan police officers the day before. The officers circled the area in a white van and took photographs of those handing out kanji in Oddusuddan. 

This year, the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances in the North and East have joined other organisations across the Tamil homeland in distributing Mullivaikkal Kanji to commemorate Mullivaikkal remembrance week. 

Kanji - a porridge of rice and water - was the only food available to Tamils trapped in the Sri Lankan government declared 'No Fire Zones' as food, medicines and other necessities were heavily restricted from entering the Vanni during the final phase of the armed conflict.

The Sri Lankan government denied the delivery of food into the conflict zones, to use starvation as a weapon of war. Even as Tamils stood in long queues to get a bowl of kanji, the Sri Lankan military continued their daily bombardment, slaughtering many.

In a statement explaining the significance of Mullivaikkal Kanji, the organisations said that "it is our historic duty to preserve Mullivaikkal kanji in our collective memory as a symbol of an immense and painful tragedy."

See more photos from across the North-East below. 

Mullaitivu 

Batticaloa 

Jaffna