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Indian parliamentarian and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader, Dr Thol. Thirumavalavan, paid tribute at Mullivaikkal today, honouring the tens of thousands of Eelam Tamils massacred during the final stages of the 2009 genocide.
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Thirumavalavan arrived in Mullaitivu earlier in the day, where he was received by local residents and presented with a traditional golden shawl. Poet Yo. Puratchi welcomed him by gifting a copy of his poetry collection, Aayiram Kavithai.
He then visited the Mullivaikkal memorial site, where he garlanded the collective memorial shrine and paid his respects to those who were killed in the atrocity. The visit marks yet another show of solidarity from the prominent Tamil Nadu leader, who has long voiced support for the Tamil nation’s struggle for justice and self-determination.
Thirumavalavan has been an outspoken supporter of the Tamil Eelam liberation struggle for decades, though he has also faced criticism within the Tamil homeland. In 2009, he met then Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa at the height of the massacres.
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Tamil Nadu MPs meet Rajapaksa in 2009.
Upon returning to Tamil Nadu, he defended his decision in an interview with TamilNet, describing the camps for displaced Tamils as “barbed-wire concentration camps” and insisting that Tamil Nadu must recognise and support the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam.
In that interview, he condemned the Sri Lankan state’s treatment of Tamil civilians, accusing Colombo of “total violation of human rights,” and urged the international community to impose sanctions and pursue war crimes charges against Rajapaksa. He maintained that “the Tamil people cannot live as second class citizens in Sri Lanka,” reiterating that Tamil Eelam remained “the only solution.”
Thirumavalavan’s visit to Mullivaikkal today comes as preparations intensify across the Tamil homeland ahead of Maaveerar Naal.
