Sri Lanka war anniversary: Tamil victims remembered in Colombo 

 Scores of people on Wednesday gathered at Mullivaikkal village in Sri Lanka’s northern Mullaitivu district, to remember the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians who were killed in the final stages of the civil war in May 2009, when the armed forces crushed the LTTE.

Simultaneously, dozens came together expressing solidarity in a rare public remembrance event at Galle Face, in Colombo, where citizens’ groups are protesting for 40 days now, seeking President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation over the stifling economic crisis.

Although small, the commemoration in Colombo assumed significance, amid sharp divisions in how the Sinhala-majority south and Tamil majority north perceive the civil war’s end.

While the UN has recorded at least 40,000 civilian deaths in the final stages of the war, many in the island’s south are yet to confront hard questions about the Sri Lankan military’s alleged human rights abuses targeting civilians reportedly directed to a ‘No fire zone’. Their popular narrative collapses the LTTE with Tamil civilians, hails soldiers as “heroes” for crushing the outfit, and celebrated the end of the war as the military’s “victory”. The divide has starkly manifested in the war anniversaries observed since 2009 – with some citizens reliving the enormous pain of losing their loved ones, and others cheering Sri Lankan troops marching down the very same Galle Face promenade in “victory day” parades.

Today, the stretch is in the international spotlight for the unprecedented resistance that citizens, mainly Sinhalese, are mounting against the Rajapaksas, whom they blame for the economic meltdown. The ruling clan, once revered for “defeating” the LTTE in war, is now widely detested. But, the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seems determined to stay in office, despite other resignations, including that of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who stepped down as the Prime Minister on May 9. 

In a ‘War heroes’ day message on Wednesday, the President Gotabaya said there is “no doubt that various local, foreign groups and individuals are trying to use” the economic and political crisis “as a pretext to influence” national security. “We must defeat it together. Only then will the courageous war hero’s commitment to the country be preserved,” he said in a statement.

Remembering victims

“Let us remember our Tamil brothers and sisters who died, or were forcibly disappeared on this day in Mullivaikkal,” said Fr. Jeewantha Peiris at the remembrance event at Galle Face, where participants drank kanji or porridge in coconut shells, as many Tamils did while living precariously amidst indiscriminate shelling. Participants made speeches in English, Tamil, and Sinhala, as they expressed solidarity with the victims and their families. 

“This is a very significant moment, as some Sinhalese have also joined this event in solidarity with Tamil families in Mullivaikkal remembering those killed during the war. Conversations about how we address our troubled past, how we confront questions of justice and accountability are just beginning,” said lawyer Swasthika Arulingam.

Meanwhile, Tamil families commemorated their loved ones in Mullivaikkal, offering flowers and lighting lamps in their memory. In the 13 years since the war ended, Tamils have frequently raised concern over heightened surveillance and intimidation around memorial events. Last year, a plaque erected in Mullaitivu was found vandalised, while authorities bulldozed a memorial on the University of Jaffna campus.

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