Sri Lanka: Tamils commemorate war dead

December 1, 2017
Issue 
Two thousand people attended the ceremony at Jaffna University on November 27.

On November 27, known to Tamils as Heroes Day, those who died fighting for an independent Tamil homeland were commemorated at ceremonies throughout the north and east of Sri Lanka.

Tamilnet said 2000 people attended the ceremony at Jaffna University. Ceremonies were also held at or near the sites of 33 devastated Tamil military cemeteries.

After the Sri Lankan government’s victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009, the Tamil war cemeteries were bulldozed by the Sri Lankan army. Some of the sites were taken over for military use. Where possible, the families of the fallen put flowers on the remnants of the damaged graves.

Tamilnet described the growing participation in Heroes Day events, despite intimidation by the occupying Sri Lankan army, as a “peoples uprising”.

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