Sri Lanka police seek court order to halt Thileepan memorials again

by admin
Sep 13, 2024

Sri Lanka police have sought a court order to prohibit commemorations and memorials in honour of  Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE, whose 37th death anniversary falls on September 26. He fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

The Jaffna police submitting a motion to courts, said that they were aware of commemorations that would take place from the 15th to the 26th of this month, marking the beginning and end of his fast, and sought an order to ban all such events. 

The petition was filed at Jaffna Magistrate Courts on Friday, September 13, by the Jaffna Police Division. The Magistrate has ordered that a hearing be conducted and it has been fixed for the 18th of this month. Accordingly, Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren and former Jaffna Mayor Visvalingam Manivannan have been named in the petition. They are also expected to appear before courts for the hearing. 

This is not the first time that the Sri Lankan government has attempted to clamp down on memorials of fallen LTTE leaders. Every year, the Sri Lankan police and security apparatus often thwart commemorations of Thileepan’s martyrdom. Last year, a Sinhala mob attacked and destroyed a memorial float dedicated to Lt Col Thileepan as it traveled through Trincomalee. As the vehicle passed through Kappalthurai, Trincomalee, a Sinhala mob attacked the vehicle with stones and batons despite the presence of Sri Lankan police officers.

Similarly last year, the Vavuniya police, Puthukudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu, Mulliyawalai, and Jaffna police sought separate court orders to prohibit the commemoration of the memorial. Police in Vavuniya claimed that the commemoration would disturb the public peace and cause racial harmony. The judge dismissed the submission citing that all individuals had the right to remember their dead. The judge then ordered the police to provide security to the events. When the Jaffna police made a similar submission, the court was forced to summon Kajendren, TNPF conveners Pushparaja Thushanthan, Dharmalingam Suresh, Ganesapillai Kugan, Rev. Sathiyavel and Mr. Kurukularasa to appear in court. The submission by the other police divisions was never heard as it was postponed.

Thileepan began his fast on September 15 and died 11 days later after refusing food and water. 

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