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Sri Lankan police in Jaffna have seized sound equipment used to play commemoration-related songs at the Mallakam junction on Tuesday evening, as the Sri Lankan state continues its efforts to suppress remembrance activities across the Tamil homeland.
According to local residents, songs linked to Maaveerar Naal - or Great Heroes' Day - commemorations were being broadcast when officers from the Tellippalai Police arrived at the scene and ordered the equipment to be shut down. Police then confiscated the speakers and related audio gear, transporting them to the station where the items were registered as “evidence”.
The incident comes amid intensified surveillance and disruption of Heroes' Day events across the North-East, where the Sri Lankan police have seemingly targeted even small-scale acts of remembrance. Similar seizures, threats and interrogations have been reported in Valvettithurai, Polikandi, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in recent days.
Despite the pressure, Tamils across the region have continued preparations for Maaveerar Naal, honouring the tens of thousands of fallen fighters who died in the Tamil nation’s struggle for self-determination.
