TNA’s mourning call a fizzle - Report

A call by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to observe May 17 as a ‘Day of Mourning’ to mourn the alleged mass killing of civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the last few days of Eelam War IV, had little or no response in the Tamil-speaking North and East of Sri Lanka, sources in the area told Express.

“The TNA had called for prayers to be offered at temples and churches, but there was little evidence of any such puja here,” said a prominent Tamil in Vavuniya, which received lakhs of refugees in the last days of the war.

“There is no scope for any such agitations now,” the resident said on condition of anonymity.

A Tamil language newspaper carried a report on an anonymous pamphlet distributed in Vavuniya which described the “Mourning Day” as nothing but a covert attempt to mourn the demise of the LTTE. The pamphlet warned that those who participated would be noted and punished.

In Jaffna, families of those who had lost their kith and kin in the Wanni war zone, visited Hindu temples and the shrine in Kirimalai to perform ceremonies for the departed, a journalist working for a local daily, said.

But the army did not allow people to attend a multi-religious prayer meeting at the Nallur Adheenam, he added.

“About 50 people had tried to enter the premises, but they were stopped by the army. The rest took the cue and kept off,” he said.

The army also made some inquiries from the 50-odd people who had attended a meeting organised by the TNA and told them not to indulge in such anti-government activities, the scribe said. – (Express News Service)