Tamil Nadu film composer Harris Jayaraj hastily deleted a tweet earlier today, after he received widespread backlash for posting a photograph with Sri Lankan singer Yohani – the daughter of a Sri Lankan army commander accused of overseeing atrocity crimes.
Yohani’s father, retired Sri Lankan Major General Prasanna De Silva, headed the 55th Division of the Sri Lankan army during the final phase of the armed conflict in 2009 – a unit that has been named by a United Nations report as responsible for the continuous shelling of a hospital amongst other crimes.
The Sri Lankan singer last year released a song which praised her father as a “hero” for “fighting terrorists”, but has only recently gained fame on the island.
“You are too good @yohanimusic” tweeted Jayaraj on Monday, along a selfie with the Sinhalese singer.
Almost immediately Jayaraj faced waves of criticism online. Many users pointed to Jayaraj’s previous posts on the Tamil genocide, including a photograph of 12-year-old Balachandran Prabhakaran, who was executed by the Sri Lankan military during the final days of the Mullivaikkal massacre.
Leaked trophy photographs taken by Sri Lankan soldiers, show the child in their custody sitting with a snack in his hand, sitting on a bench surrounded by sandbags, in what looks like a fortified army position. Subsequent photographs show the boy lying dead on the ground, with bullet wounds through his chest. “The pic which shook me before 8 years has not come down yet,” said Jayaraj on Instagram earlier this year, in a caption with a photograph of Balachandran.
“Have you forgotten?” asked one user in response to the photograph with Yohani. Others took to sharing Yohani’s previous song in praise of the Sri Lankan military and called on Jayaraj to delete the post.
Have you forgotten @Jharrisjayaraj#WarCrimes#????
— keerthi (@vanni1234567) October 11, 2021
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— (@Sangathamizha1) October 11, 2021
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— Balan tholar (@Balantholar) October 11, 2021
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Within 24 hours of the original post the tweet was deleted, prompting applause from his fans.
