Despite the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the end of the armed conflict, Tamils arriving in Sri Lanka from abroad continue to face harassment by authorities who claim there are links to the LTTE.
In an incident last month, a man accused of being a former LTTE member, who had spent 18 years abroad, was detained at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and interrogated by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).
The individual, Subramaniam Sasikaran, was claimed to have been involved in a bombing at Wilpattu Park in 2006 by Sri Lankan authorities, although details surrounding his involvement remain unclear. The Anuradhapura High Court had reportedly previously issued a warrant for Sasikaran’s arrest in connection with this attack, despite questions about the validity of the charges.
Upon Sasikaran’s arrival at BIA on July 11, 2024, he was detained by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department. The TID claimed custody of him, accusing him of aiding and abetting the bombing of a jeep and participating in LTTE activities. Authorities also allege that he received military training to attack government forces. However, no substantial evidence has been presented to substantiate these claims.
Officials assert that Sasikaran was part of an LTTE group led by the former leader Bahiradhan, alongside several others supposedly involved in orchestrating the bombing. Yet, there is little independent verification of these assertions.
Colombo Additional Magistrate Pasan Amarasinghe has ordered that Sasikaran be detained and further interrogated by the TID. This case underscores the difficulties that returning Tamils continue to face, even after the official defeat of the LTTE, often based on tenuous accusations.
A similar situation occurred in March of this year when another alleged former LTTE member and activist, Selvanayagam Aravinthan, was arrested by Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) for supposedly supporting the LTTE. Aravinthan had been summoned over a Facebook account, and when he did not attend an initial meeting, the TID issued another summons.
These arrests are part of a continuing pattern of harassment against Tamils in the North-East, who frequently face politically motivated or fabricated charges.
