By Harim Peiris
A centre of Tamil learning in Jaffna was attacked and destroyed. No, not last week, but 40 years ago, in 1981, the iconic Jaffna Library, a seat of Tamil language, literature and learning was burnt to cinders by a mob of what then cabinet ministers Cyril Mathew et al were watching, perhaps not entirely as innocent bystanders, from the veranda of the old Jaffna Rest House termed as “an unfortunate rampage by a few drunk and off duty police officers”. Coming a full circle, four decades later, once again a seat of Tamil learning, this time namely the University of Jaffna, witnessed the destruction of its memorial to the dead. The police officers were again there, now on duty and very sober, as under cover of darkness, they guarded the backhoes which did the demolition. The contexts were different, the events eerily similar, while the rhetoric is strikingly the same.
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Sri Lanka’s Tamil parties seek international mechanism to probe ‘war crimes’
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No scope for a domestic process, they note in joint letter to UNHRC members
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No scope for a domestic process, they note in joint letter to UNHRC members Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political parties have sought an international probe, including at the International Criminal Court (ICC), into allegations of human rights abuses during the civil war, deeming there is “no scope” for a domestic process that can “genuinely” deal with accountability.
In a joint letter dated January 15, 2021 addressed to members of the UN Human Rights Council they observed, “Leaders across the political spectrum in Sri Lanka including from both the major political parties have categorically and without exception stated that they will protect the Sri Lankan armed forces from prosecutions. It is now time for Member States to acknowledge that there is no scope for a domestic p
Sri Lankan Students Protest After Memorial for 100K Tamil People Killed in Civil War is Destroyed
At the University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, a war memorial dedicated to the Tamil people was destroyed over the weekend, resulting in student protests, sudden arrests and a viral Instagram post.
What happened: On Jan. 8, the Sri Lankan authorities bulldozed a monument known as the Mullivaikkal memorial, according to Al Jazeera.
The memorial was built by students on the university’s grounds to commemorate the Tamil civilians who were killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was also built to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the end of the war.