Three parents of erstwhile Tamil Tiger cadres have said they will fast until death if the Alambil Maaveerar ThuyilumI Illam (cemetery of martyrs) in Mullaitivu district is not released from the control of the military who are using the cemetery for various activities.
They have demanded that the land where the cemetery is located-which is under military control- be returned to the public to enable them to pay homage to those who lost their lives during the three-decades-long brutal civil war which came to an end 14 years back.
The trio vowed that ‘their decision to fast until death’ would go ahead as planned if the political leadership and officials failed to offer a solution to their demand. They claim the Alambil cemetery has been desecrated by the Sri Lankan army’s 23rd Sinha Regiment which is located close to it.
“The army is engaging in agriculture, playing cricket, and running a restaurant where our children are buried. They should immediately get out of the cemetery so that we could pay tributes to our children peacefully,” the parents told local media people.
They claim by such desecrating activities the peace and tranquility of the ‘sacred land’ for them are disturbed.
A father and two mothers of three former Tamil Tiger cadres shared their deep sense of anguish at the cemetery being used for various commercial and recreational purposes by the Sri Lankan Army.
“We are living under severe stress as we are unable to pay tributes to our relatives and light a lamp praying for their souls to Rest in Peace”-the three separate parents have said.
They have demanded that the politicians and the officials take necessary action at the earliest to retrieve the land where the cemetery is located in Alambil so that all the parents whose children are buried there could pay solemn tribute to them; failing which their ‘fast unto death’ would go ahead as planned.
Paying tributes to the dead is part of the Tamil culture which has been declared as a fundamental right by the UN.
Arrangements are being made in the traditional Tamil homeland in the North and East of Sri Lanka for the public to pay their respects and tributes in memory of those who lost their lives fighting for ‘the creation of Tamil Eelam’ where Tamils could live with dignity and honour.
After the end of the war, many of the war cemeteries in the North and East have been demolished and the memorial plaques placed in memory of the fallen LTTE cadres broken by the Sri Lankan security forces, who have vowed to erase all traces of the former militants.
Local Tamils in the North and East have expressed their anger and disappointment that while the Sinhala army personnel who were killed in the battle against the LTTE are being venerated and honoured during the annual victory day.
The Sri Lankan government and the Army however threaten and intimidate the Tamils who want to do the same by remembering their loved ones and lighting a lamp in their memory.
