Controversy in London as Sri Lankan singer who praised war criminal looks to perform

^{Yohani with Gotabaya Rajapaksa.}

Activists in London have expressed their outrage, after controversial singer Yohani, who has praised Sri Lankan war criminals responsible for killing Tamils, looks to perform at a Tamil-owned venue in London on Friday.

Yohani, daughter of former Sri Lankan army Major General Prasanna De Silva, an army commander who is credibly accused of overseeing war crimes, has repeatedly praised him as a "hero" in her music.

“You were fighting terrorists,” she says in the Sinhala song "Rawwath Dasin", dressed in a military style costume and surrounded by flaming wreckage. “You are my hero and I worship you with both of my hands on my head.”

The Major General headed the Sri Lankan army’s 55th Division during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, in which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed, largely by military shelling. The division that Silva headed in particular was notorious. Amongst the crimes it is accused of, a United Nations report detailed how one hospital in the Vanni was shelled every day from January 29th to February 4th 2009 - most likely by the 55th Division.

Soldiers from Silva’s personal security detail were also stopped whilst carrying pistols in a white van carrying altered license plates in 2015, a vehicle infamously used by Sri Lankan security forces to carry out abductions and forcible disappearances.

^{File photograph of Silva in the Vanni, 2009. He is speaking to Shavendra Silva and Kamal Gunaratne, both of whom also stand accused of war crimes.}

The video of Yohani’s controversial tribute song to her father remains online.

She has also met with other war criminals, including Shavendra Silva who is banned from the US over his role in executing surrendering Tamils, and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. A video from 2021, shows the Sri Lankan singer serenading the accused war criminal at his residence. 

The performer is currently in the United Kingdom for a series of shows, but it is her London performance on Friday 21st of February that is stirring up the most discontent.

^{A poster for the event taking place on Friday.}

“An advocate of genocide and cheerleader of genocide perpetrators, should not be allowed to perform anywhere, let alone in London,” said the Tamil Youth Organisation UK’s Political Coordinator. “It is extremely inhumane and inflammatory.” 

TYOUK has called for a boycott of the event and is demanding the organisers cancel.

The Harley Lounge, a Tamil-owned venue that is hosting the event, told the Tamil Guardian it was unaware of Yohani’s background at the time of booking and is not responsible for organising the event.

^{Nesan alongside EPDP paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda, who stands accused of abductions, murders and running prostitution rings.}

The organisers of Yohani’s show include Yohani’s music management company “Outright Play” and Nesan Creations, a company run by Nesan Thirunesan also known as Nesan Shankar Rajee, a senior leader of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) wing in London. Whilst most EROS members joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1990, this faction split off and went on to align itself with the Sri Lankan government, functioning as a paramilitary group that is accused of committing crimes such as abductions and murders. The former leader Shankar Rajee died of a heart attack in 2005, and his son Nesan went on to become a senior leader in the organisation.

In 2019, Nesan pledged his support for Gotabaya Rajapaksa ahead of presidential elections, claiming that he had “rescued” the Tamil people during the 2009 genocide.

Nesan told the Tamil Guardian that he stands by his decision to host Yohani, despite the controversy.

“An apologist for genocide has no place performing in London,” added Mahes from Tamil Coordinating Committee in the UK. “She called our freedom fighters ‘terrorists’ and has been singing for war criminals.” 

“Unless Yohani denounces her father’s crimes, retracts her previous support for war criminals and pledges public support for an international justice mechanism for the genocide, she is nothing but an enabler.” 

^{A poster from TYOUK.}

"Prassana De Silva is a war criminal who is guilty of genocide and should be on trial at the ICC. Anyone who praises him is trying to whitewash his crimes,” said S Yogalingam, a co-ordinator at the Movement for Self-Determination of Tamil Eelam (MSDTE).

"Yohani must not be allowed to perform - especially at a Tamil owned venue.  It is an insult to Tamils everywhere."

Though the event may still go ahead tomorrow, there have been reports of a protest being organised.

“The fact that people are outraged is not surprising,” said David A., a co-ordinator at the British Tamil Alliance. “Tens of thousands of Tamils were killed by people like Yohani’s father, who she praises as a hero.”

“Though more than 15 years have passed since his crimes, no one has forgotten about them. Tamils are still fighting every day, in Eelam and in London, for justice. Until it has been served and every war criminal has been held to account, we will not stop.”