Brigadier Balraj laid to rest

by admin
Jun 3, 2008
The remains of Brigadier Balaraj, a senior commander Liberation Tigers, who passed away due to a sudden heart attack on 20 May 2008, was laid to rest 6.30 pm on Friday, 23 May, with full military honours in Mulliyavalai Heroes Cemetery the presence of thousands of public and hundreds of LTTE cadres.
 
After the homage ceremony held Thursday in Kilinochchi, the casket containing the remains of Brigadier Balraj was kept at Puthukkudiyiruppu Central College from 8:00a.m till 11:00a.m to enable the public to pay their last respects.
 
After an eulogy by Poddu Ammaan, head of the LTTE Intelligence Wing, the casket preceded by percussion band and accompanied by thousands of people was taken in procession to the church of Infant Jesus in Mullaiththeevu. The cortege arrived at the church around 12:30 p.m.
 
Poorani, head of LTTE Naval wing’s women’s division, lit the common flame at the event held in the main hall of Millaiththeevu Maha Vidyalyam to pay homage to Brigadier Balraj.
 
Vinayagam, deputy commander of the Sea Tigers, presided the event.
 
After that Chandrasegaram and Gnanasekaram, siblings of late Brigadier Balraj, lit the flame of sacrifice, and garlanded the remains.
 
Colonel Soosai, special commander of Sea Tigers garlanded the remains of Brigadier Balraj and paid special tribute to Brigadier Balraj.
 
Thousands of people gathered in the school premises paid their last respects at the event which continued till 2:10 p.m.
 
The casket was then taken in procession from Mulliyavalai junction to Mulliyavalai Vidyananda College where another event to pay homage to Brigadier Balraj was held at 4:00p.m presided by Umainesan, political head of Mulliyavalai zone.
 
A number of LTTE representatives including head of the LTTE political wing B. Nadesan, commander of the Northern Front Colonel Theepan, Colonel Jeyam, LTTE military advisor Dinesh, head of the Education unit of Tamil Eelam Ilankumaran, Head of LTTE justice department Para, Thamilenthi, Mannar division commander Laxman and LTTE secretariat administrator Neethan garlanded the remains of Brigadier Balraj.
 
Earlier, several thousand members of the public had had an opportunity to pay their last respects to Brigadier Balraj when the casket was kept at Mallaawi, Vanni.
 
Colonel Ramesh, one of Senior LTTE commanders, eulogized Brig. Balraj at the event in Mallaawi.
 
Col. Theepan and several LTTE military commanders for the Northern Front including Colonel Mugunthan and Colonel Kumunan laid garlands over the remains of late Brigadier Balraj. C. Navaratnarajah, President of Kilinochchi Traders Association, presided over the event.
 
Press reports said a number of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jet fighters flew over the skies in a provocative act to intimidate the public during the event.
 

Add new comment

About text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.

Restricted HTML

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.
  • You can embed media items (using the <drupal-media> tag).

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

link button

 

Last News

Business

Music

Trending in Design

test

Dec 19

this is testy

test

this is the test artical 

Tamil asylum seekers in Australia mark 100 days of continuous protests for permanent visas

Over 200 refugees and supporters marked a significant milestone by marching 10 kilometers from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office to the Immigration Minister’s office this week, commemorating 100 days of continuous protest.

This demonstration, which culminated in a rally and speeches in Punchbowl, highlighted the plight of refugees denied permanent visas for over 12 years. Speakers at the event shed light on the profound impact of the current system, including barriers to higher education, employment, and access to essential services.

The protest has now entered its 100th day, with Tamil asylum seekers and their supporters continuing their relentless demand for permanent protection. For 38 days, they camped outside Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke’s office in Sydney, calling on the government to end the visa limbo that has left many without basic rights and stability. Tamil asylum seekers have been in Australia for over a decade, living on short-term visas that must be renewed regularly. Without permanent residency, they are excluded from Medicare—Australia’s universal health insurance scheme—and are denied the right to work, study, travel, or access essential services. Many are also required to report to visa offices weekly.

The crisis is compounded by the controversial 'Fast Track' system introduced in 2014 by the Abbott government. According to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, this system has resulted in the rejection of around 8,500 asylum seekers' cases. It specifically targets individuals who sought asylum by sea and arrived in Australia between August 13, 2012, and December 31, 2013. Tamil asylum seekers, stuck in visa limbo for years, have launched protests nationwide, with 24-hour encampments in Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane.

Amaran - Problematic propaganda

amaran

The genre of war epic makes its grand re-entry to Tamil cinema with director Rajkumar Periasamy’s sophomore feature film, ‘Amaran.’ As is often the case with this genre, one cannot help but feel the events of the ‘true story’ onscreen have been heavily modified for easy consumption.

 

 

 

The patriotic military films of Tamil cinema had taken a back seat for a while. The subject matter is now seldom a prominent theme of a film, instead lurking in the shadows peeking through such as via the heroes in the works of Nelson Dilipkumar. The genre of war epic makes its grand re-entry to Tamil cinema with director Rajkumar Periasamy’s sophomore feature film, ‘Amaran.’ As is often the case with this genre, one cannot help but feel the events of the ‘true story’ onscreen have been heavily modified for easy consumption.

The film follows the tale of Major Mukund Varadarajan (Sivakarthikeyan) and his partner Indhu Rebecca Varghese (Sai Pallavi), who meet at college and soon become lovers. Indhu grapples with her lover’s life ambition of becoming a soldier for the Indian army, admiring his courage and more than willing to become his doting wife at home. We then watch as Mukund is stationed in Kashmir and follow along with his various missions in the volatile area. The film’s depiction of the Indian army is one solely made up of heroes rescuing civilians and looking out for the public’s interests. It is not necessary to delve too much into why this is an oversimplified and problematic portrayal.

The central performances by Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi carry the almost three hour film adequately. Despite moments where Sivakarthikeyan lacks the intensity to land highly emotional scenes, the pair deftly share the screen between them, with Pallavi picking up any slack. Another notable performance comes from Geetha Kailasam, a character actor who has featured in many films recently in the role of ‘the mother.’ ‘Amaran’ gives her another opportunity to showcase her own humorous brand of motherhood.

Technically, the film runs smoothly. The film is decently shot and edited. Other than a few overly melodramatic moments, the screenplay is solid, albeit a little superficial. GV Prakash Kumar continues his trend of matching the quality of the film with the quality of his music. The track ‘Hey Minnale’ is an earworm, but the rest of the score and soundtrack does not shine through.

Overall, ‘Amaran’ is a straightforward piece of propaganda. A shot in ‘Amaran’ depicts a soldier of the Indian army blocking a closing door with his rifle. On the other side of the door is a Kashmiri child. To appease the child, the soldier sneaks a chocolate bar through the gap in the doorway. The reverse of this tactic is what director Rajkumar Periasamy employs to hook his audience in: the sweetness of the Penelope-Odysseus relationship between Mukund and Indhu hides the intrusion of the weapon of jingoist ideology. 

Krishna's rating: 2.5 stars

___

Official trailer for film below.

FB Likebox

The website encountered an unexpected error. Try again later.