The Eastern University in Vandaramulai, Batticaloa, marked the anniversary of the forced disappearance of 158 Tamil civilians, who were detained by the Sri Lankan army while seeking refuge at the campus 34 years ago.
The Eastern University in Vandaramulai, Batticaloa, marked the anniversary of the forced disappearance of 158 Tamil civilians, who were detained by the Sri Lankan army while seeking refuge at the campus 34 years ago.
The commemoration, which took place on Thursday, was organised by the Batticaloa Association of Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared and the Eastern University Faculty of Arts and Culture Students' Union. Families and relatives of the disappeared, Eastern University students, and civil society activists also attended the event. A minute of silence was observed, and candles were lit in remembrance after a protest demanding justice for the disappeared,
The event commemorated the case of a mass disappearance that occurred in 1990 during the height of the armed conflict. On Sept 5th,1990 the Sri Lankan army entered a refugee camp located on the Eastern University campus and ordered civilians to assemble on the university grounds. Many recall their experiences of seeing masked spotters who were brought in by the army picking certain individuals and taking them away in buses, 158 in total. They have never been seen or heard from again.
Sri Lanka conducted a ‘Presidential Commission’ report which confirmed that, according to witnesses, the army had detained 158 individuals on that day. However, nothing further has come of it. The families of the disappeared continue to suffer as they search for news of what happened to their loved ones.
The demonstration at Eastern University is another example of the persistent search for justice and closure by Tamils, amid the Sri Lankan military’s and government's continued refusal to take accountability.
