A Karthigaipoo, the national flower of Tamil Eelam, was projected on to Britain's Houses of Parliament in Westminster, Central London tonight, as British Tamils paid tribute to those who gave their lives in the Tamil liberation struggle amidst restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The projection, organised by British Tamil activists, lit up the Houses of Parliament with an image of the flower and the words “We Remember” and "We remember the heroes who fought for freedom from Sri Lankan state genocide".
“Since we cannot hold mass public gatherings on November 27th due to restrictions in place due to public health crises, we decided to commemorate our heroes in another form,” said Malathy*, a young activist and one of the organisers of the projection tribute.
Usually tens of thousands of Tamils gather across the country in large scale acts of remembrance. This year, events have been safely held in homes and online, as British Tamils continued to commemorate their fallen fighters despite global pandemic.
“In the homeland the Sri Lankan state has been attempting to stifle commemoration and prevent our people from remembering our martyrs,” said Shankar*, another youth organiser. “We picked this building in London to showcase to the British public the ongoing genocide our people face and to highlight that the UK’s policies continue to have an impact on our freedom struggle.”
“This is our message to our people and to those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. You will never be forgotten. We promise to continue the struggle until Tamils get justice, peace and permanent security”.
_____
*names have been changed to protect identities and safeguard families in the North-East.
