Cleaning at Vannivilankulam LTTE cemetery begins ahead of Maaveerar Naal

by admin
Oct 23, 2024

Cleaning at Vannivilankulam Thuyilum Illam in Mullaitivu has begun in preparation of Maaveerar Naal next month. 

Tamils laid flowers at a destroyed LTTE gravestone to remember fallen cadres before they started the cleaning process. The LTTE built cemetries, also known as Thuyilum Illams, across Tamil Eelam to house the bodies of their fallen fighters. Following the end of the armed conflict, the Sri Lankan army bulldozed over the cemetries and in some areas, built army bases over them. 

Maaveerar Naal - or Great Heroes Day - remembers those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil liberation struggle, and is marked on November 27, in memory of the first death of a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre, Lt Col. Shankar who died in combat on November 27, 1982. 

Every year, Tamils gather at Thuyilum Illams across the North-East on Maaveerar Naal to commemorate the tens of thousands of Tamils who sacrificed their lives for the right to self-determination. 

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