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Sri Lankan Tamils openly mark anniversary of war's end
Agence France Presse - May 18, 2015
Hundreds of Tamils lit oil lamps and gave offerings of flowers during a ceremony in Mullivaikkal village that was held openly for the first time after the country's new government lifted a ban on commemorating Tamil victims.
Mullivaikkal is the northern village where Tamil Tiger rebels fought their last stand after 37 years of war, but for years, villagers were unable to mark the anniversary.
The military declared an end to the bloodshed when it finally killed Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran at a lagoon on the edge of the village on May 18, 2009, ending his long campaign for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils.
The United Nations estimates that some 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the district that includes Mullivaikkal where they had fled after the government declared it a safe area.
New President Maithripala Sirisena has vowed to pursue reconciliation efforts with Sri Lanka's Tamil minority more vigorously than predecessor Mahinda Rajapakse, a hardline Sinhalese nationalist who oversaw the crushing of the rebels.
However Suresh Premachandran, a lawmaker with the Tamil National Alliance party, noted that processions to commemorate the dead were still banned, and criticised the Sirisena regime for not going far enough.
"The new government tells the international community that they are treating the Tamils with dignity. But they get court orders to prevent Tamils from remembering their dead," Premachandran told AFP by phone from Mullivaikkal.
While some commemorations by Tamils are now allowed, street processions and protests to commemorate the dead are banned due to a court order.
Sirisena will on Tuesday oversee a military parade, the state's main commemorations for the end of the war. This year's events are set to be more low-key than in previous years. The name "Victory Parade" has been dropped in favour of "Armed Forces Day".
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