Tamils and Muslims from all over Trincomalee district gathered Saturday along the town’s Inner Harbor Road in the latest of a series of major demonstrations to demand Sri Lankan troops vacate the Northeast.
Tamil parliamentarians, human rights activists, students, and even a Buddhist monk rallied against the Army’s occupation of Tamil areas in the event which followed others held in the past few months in Mannar, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuynia and Jaffna.
“After a half century since the independence of the Sinhala nation, Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism has shut all the doors to a democratic and peaceful settlement of the problems of the Tamil speaking people,” read the Declaration delivered at the event.
“We proclaim that an environment should be created to enable us to decide our destiny in our land on our own strength and for our people to continue to rise as a formidable force to procure the goal of a sacred and higher life of freedom.”
“Whilst making [this] Declaration, we seek the recognition by the international community of our basic rights and life of freedom with peace on the basis of our traditional homeland, our nationhood and self-rule and struggle for sovereignty.”
Tharmaratna Thero was the first Buddhist monk to ever take part in a Tamil uprising event, underlining the multi-ethnic character of the formerly Tamil-dominated district that has seen large scale state-sponsored colonization since independence from Britain.
“All Tamils living in Trincomalee are my relatives. For all those who live according to Lord Buddha’s teachings, everyone in the world is a relative,” the Thero said, speaking first in Sinhala and then in Tamil.
“Tragically today some Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka are not living according to Lord Buddha’s teachings,” he said, referring to the powerful clergy which sees non-Sinhalese as interlopers on the island.
“The past and present government of this country did not rule it according to Buddhist dharma. Instead they are acting like senseless mad people. The country is suffering for their misdeeds. The basic cause of the ethnic problem is the failure to act according to Buddhist dharma.”
Sakul Hameethu, a former principal and a Muslim representative, also addressed the rally.
“Tamil speaking people must come together. The mistakes of our political leaders have split us. We can achieve the rights of the Tamil speaking people only when our two ethnic groups join together,” he said.
Unlike previous Resurgence events, there were no Sri Lankan police or army personnel present. However, the Senior Superintendent of Police protested at the raising of the Tamil Tiger’s flag at a location he said was “state property.”
International truce monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission were on hand to observe the situation and handed the police complaint to Mr. R. Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
The headquarters of the TNA was declared open in Trincomalee town on the eve of the rally. Mr. Sampanthan hoisted the Tamil Eelam flag at the ceremony Friday evening at the office which is located along Avvaiyar Road in the heart of the town. The event was attended by 15 of the TNA’s 22 MPs, drawn from all the Northeastern districts.
Earlier last week, Mr. Jeffry Lunstead, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, paid a one-day visit to Trincomalee town on Wednesday and held discussions with the heads of armed forces and Police and the SLMM.
Tamil parliamentarians, human rights activists, students, and even a Buddhist monk rallied against the Army’s occupation of Tamil areas in the event which followed others held in the past few months in Mannar, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuynia and Jaffna.
“After a half century since the independence of the Sinhala nation, Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism has shut all the doors to a democratic and peaceful settlement of the problems of the Tamil speaking people,” read the Declaration delivered at the event.
“We proclaim that an environment should be created to enable us to decide our destiny in our land on our own strength and for our people to continue to rise as a formidable force to procure the goal of a sacred and higher life of freedom.”
“Whilst making [this] Declaration, we seek the recognition by the international community of our basic rights and life of freedom with peace on the basis of our traditional homeland, our nationhood and self-rule and struggle for sovereignty.”
Tharmaratna Thero was the first Buddhist monk to ever take part in a Tamil uprising event, underlining the multi-ethnic character of the formerly Tamil-dominated district that has seen large scale state-sponsored colonization since independence from Britain.
“All Tamils living in Trincomalee are my relatives. For all those who live according to Lord Buddha’s teachings, everyone in the world is a relative,” the Thero said, speaking first in Sinhala and then in Tamil.
“Tragically today some Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka are not living according to Lord Buddha’s teachings,” he said, referring to the powerful clergy which sees non-Sinhalese as interlopers on the island.
“The past and present government of this country did not rule it according to Buddhist dharma. Instead they are acting like senseless mad people. The country is suffering for their misdeeds. The basic cause of the ethnic problem is the failure to act according to Buddhist dharma.”
Sakul Hameethu, a former principal and a Muslim representative, also addressed the rally.
“Tamil speaking people must come together. The mistakes of our political leaders have split us. We can achieve the rights of the Tamil speaking people only when our two ethnic groups join together,” he said.
Unlike previous Resurgence events, there were no Sri Lankan police or army personnel present. However, the Senior Superintendent of Police protested at the raising of the Tamil Tiger’s flag at a location he said was “state property.”
International truce monitors from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission were on hand to observe the situation and handed the police complaint to Mr. R. Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
The headquarters of the TNA was declared open in Trincomalee town on the eve of the rally. Mr. Sampanthan hoisted the Tamil Eelam flag at the ceremony Friday evening at the office which is located along Avvaiyar Road in the heart of the town. The event was attended by 15 of the TNA’s 22 MPs, drawn from all the Northeastern districts.
Earlier last week, Mr. Jeffry Lunstead, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, paid a one-day visit to Trincomalee town on Wednesday and held discussions with the heads of armed forces and Police and the SLMM.
