Tamil politicians from the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have expressed their opposition to receiving the Covid-19 vaccination from military hospitals.
Selvarajah Kajendran, a TNPF parliamentarian, said that politicians from their party will not be vaccinated at hospitals run by the Sri Lankan military, who are responsible for the genocide of the Tamil people.
Meanwhile, TNA MP Sivagnanam Shritharan has also come out in opposition to getting vaccinated at military-run hospitals. Shritharan questioned why the vaccines were being distributed at military hospitals when civilian hospitals were available. He added that he was ready to be vaccinated in Kilinochchi along with the local population when the vaccines are publicly distributed.
Sri Lanka's highly militarised response to the coronavirus pandemic has been criticised, especially after accused war criminal and army commander Shavendra Silva was chosen to head the response operation. Recently, a number of UN experts expressed concern that coronavirus regulations were enforced unevenly with Tamils and Muslims bearing the brunt of restrictions and punitive action.
