Local residents restore Thileepan memorial
Sri Lankan police removed a photograph of Lt. Col. Thileepan and flags from a memorial site in Trincomalee yesterday, following four days of commemorations by local residents.
Since 15 September, Tamils in Trincomalee have gathered daily outside the Sivan temple to mark each day of Lt.Col. Thileepan's hunger strike. When residents arrived to observe the fifth day, they found his photograph removed and flags torn down by Sri Lankan police.
Despite the disruption, local residents reinstalled Thileepan's photograph and the flags before marking the fifth day of his hunger strike.
Tamils in the North-East have been obstructed from holding and participating in memorialisation activities, particularly following the end of the armed conflict.
According to the UN High Commissioner's last report, the National People's Power government has "pledged not to interfere with commemoration events" as long as they do not "glorify terrorism".
Tamils across the homeland have been remembering Thileepan since September 15 to mark 38 years since he fasted unto death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour their pledges made to the Tamil people.