Former Northern Provincial Council member, M.K Shivajilingham marked the sixth day of Mullivaikkal remembrance week despite facing intimidation by Sri Lanka's security forces.
Shivajilingham lit a flame at the Mullivaikkal memorial monument which was destroyed by the Sri Lankan army last week. The monument pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils that were killed in the final days of the armed conflict by the Sri Lankan goverment.
Read more here: Sri Lankan army vandalises Mullivaikkal monument and steals memorial stone
Earlier today, as the Tamil nation prepared to commemorate Tamil Genocide Day, Sri Lanka's security forces blocked off the roads leading to the Mullivaikkal memorial ground, after it announced the imposing of a lockdown on Mullaitivu. This forms part of the state's ongoing attempts to prevent any remembrance events from taking place.
A court order was also issued by Mullaitivu court today, ordering that remembrance events could go ahead as long as participants followed coronavirus regulations and social distancing measures. However, the Sri Lankan forces continued to block Tamils from entering the Mullivaikkal memorial ground, claiming they had not received the court order.
Tamils in the North-East are expected to hold private commemoration events to mark the 12th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide.
Read more on the events of May 2009 here: 12 years today - 3,000 dead and 25,000 critically injured.
