• You can never remove memories from our hearts' - NPC minister Ayngaranesan

    Nov 27
    Photographs Tamilwin


    The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) agriculture minister, P. Ayngaranesan, education minister T. Kurukularasa, and TNA MP S. Sritharan joined arranged a tree planting ceremony in Varani on Thursday, in the memory of LTTE cadre who had given their lives for the Tamil struggle.

    "The tombs of those fought for us have been destroyed, and today the Sri Lankan army is stepping on those places," NPC minister Ayngaranesan told Uthayan.

    "As we are not able to go there to pay our respects, today we are planting trees in remembrance. Each tree planted in remembrance of the dead are living shrines."

    "The Liberation Tigers or other cadres may appear as terrorist in the eyes of the Sri Lankan government, but they are our blood."

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  • Maaveerar Naal in Qatar

    Tamils in Qatar observed Maaveerar Naal commemorations on Thursday, along with Tamils across the world, reported Pathivu..

    Dozens of Tamils gathered in the capital Doha and paid their respects to the fallen fighters.

  • A legacy for generations

    Twenty-five years ago today, the Tamil nation’s day of remembrance - Maaveerar Naal, was first commemorated at an event in the Vanni. Today, the commemoration of the nation’s fallen heroes has spread across the world, taken by those who were forced to flee their homeland in the North-East. This year also marks a significant anniversary of remembrance in global history, the hundredth anniversary of the start of the first world war. Over 16 million people died during four years of intense warfare, which led to a further world war and millions more deaths. Silence, a candle and a flower - a gloriosa lily and a poppy, were used in an act of remembrance that is understood across nations and across generations. The legacy of those who gave their all for their nation binds a people beyond political differences. It reverberates through history and is honoured and revered as the ultimate sacrifice.

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    The British Foreign Affairs Committee report said that the UK should negotiate with the EU to remove trade benefits granted to Sri Lanka, if the government not allow UN investigators into Sri Lanka or stop activists engaging with the UN.

    Highlighting further concerns over witness intimidation following David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna, the Committee urged the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to report on how individuals at risk in Sri Lanka had been monitored, in a report published today.

  • Commemorating 'Heroes Day' is a terrorist act warns SL military spokesperson
    Sri Lanka will not allow anyone to celebrate the birthday of the Liberation of Tamil Tigers leader or “Heroes Day,” said the Military Media spokesperson, Ruwan Wanigasooriya.

    The brigadier stressed that security had been strengthened in the North by deploying additional special forces, and warned that anyone commemorating these events would be considered as committing a terrorist act, reports Colombo Page.

  • Topography of terror and exile

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    The website of the Jaffna Municipal Council was hacked on Wednesday, displaying a message celebrating the 60th birthday of LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran.

    The image, posted on Wednesday, featured Prabhakaran's photograph and the words “Happy Birthday Karikaalan,” a reference to the name he was also known as.

  • No bells must toll today warns army, as North-East under military siege on Maaveerar Naal
    Updated 10:38 GMT

    Photograph @Tharu1985


    The Sri Lankan army have warned Tamils across the North-East that no temple or church bells must toll today, as the Tamil nation marks its remembrance day - Maaveerar Naal, the local newspaper, Uthayan, reported.

    Photograph Uthayan


    Sri Lankan military personnel and police officers have been deployed across the Tamil homeland. The main town of Jaffna has been particularly affected, with Jaffna University, Nalloor temple and the main teaching hospital, under effective siege.

    "The army is stationed at every street and lane, so much so that the place is looking like war zone, and everyone who goes past is subjected to an interrogation," the Uthayan noted.

  • Uthayan remembers fallen heroes
    Marking the Tamil national remembrance day today amid military warnings against any act of remembrance, the Jaffna based newspaper, Uthayan, published a full page remembrance message on the second page of its print edition.

    "We bow our heads in memory of our heroes who gave their lives to protect the rights of the people," the message read, depicting two hands holding a lit lamp. The message was also published online on the Uthayan's website.

    Uthayan print edition 27 Nov 2014, page 2

  • Tamils will remember their dead in the face of SL state oppression - Ananthi Sasitharan
    The memories of Tamils who dedicated their lives towards the Tamil people’s liberation will not be erased despite the Sri Lankan state’s relentless efforts to do so, said Ananthy Sasitharan.



  • Candles lit in North-East to mark Maaveerar Naal
    Updated 15:30 GMT

     
    Photograph: Lamps being lit at a home in Jaffna.
    Tamil Guardian

    Maaveerar Naal was commemorated in secret on Thursday in the North-East, despite heavy military presence all over the region.

    A source at one Jaffna event held in a private location told Tamil Guardian, “this is not an advertising stunt. Just to tell the world, that still our feelings, as Tamils, are alive.”

  • Maaveerar remembered at Jaffna University
    Students at the University of Jaffna marked Maaveerar Naal in secret, despite a heavy military presence around the campus.

    Photograph: Uthayan

    Soldiers and police were gathered around a memorial monument in the university grounds where they expected students to attempt to light a ceremonious flame.

  • British Tamils commemorate Maveerar Naal

    Thousands of British Tamils gathered at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London on Thursday, to commemorate the nation's day of remembrance - Maaveerar Naal.

    The event began with the ceremonious lighting of a flame of remembrance, coinciding with the death of the first Tamil cadre killed in the struggle against Sri Lankan state oppression.

    The ceremonial flame was lit by the mother of Isaipriya, a Tamil news anchor and journalist who was killed in May 2009.

    See our live tweets here.
     
     
    Photographs: Tamil Coordinating Committee (TCC)

    In London, British Tamils from across began the event with     the ceremonious lighting of remembrance flames to coincide with the death of the first Tamil cadre killed in the fight against Sri Lankan state oppression.
  • Mullaitivu councillor marks Maaveerar Naal

    Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Ravikaran led a Maaveerar Naal tribute in Mullaithivu. Ravikaran was joined by over fifteen citizens, including the mother of a Maaveerar.

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