Tamils in Washington D.C. commemorate Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day

Tamils in Washington D.C. organised an event in memory of the Mullivaikkal genocide at the Murugan Temple of North America on May 18, as events around the world marked Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. 

The event was an interfaith spiritual commemorative event dedicated to honouring all the lives that were lost and disappeared during the Mullivaikkal massacres 15 years ago.

The event started with a video of the Mullivaikkal commemoration in Mullaitivu which had taken place just a few hours earlier, followed by opening remarks delivered by event organiser Niraj Suresh. He touched upon the importance of remembering the dead from a Hindu perspective while Divy Kangeyan spoke on the significance of the Mullivaikkal commemoration. 

The event also saw the gathering recite the Tamil Saivite Hindu prayers while Niraj and Divy led the chanting of the Sivapuranam. Rev. Jude Sudarshan Mahendran who also spoke at the event delivered recorded remarks on the importance of remembering the dead from a Christian perspective. Grace Pushparany Williams, the president of the United States Tamil Action Group, spoke on the importance of Tamil human rights advocacy.

A compilation of documentary clips covering the history of the ethnic conflict from 1948 to the present was played to educate attendees about the persecution of Tamils, while Iniya Ravikumar, a student at Virginia Tech who recently ttravelled to the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva to speak about the current human rights challenges faced by Tamils, delivered recorded remarks about the significance of Mullivaikkal kanji. 

The event took place alongside others around the world to mark 15 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal.