America Tamilar Peravai (ATP) Commemorates Maaveerar Naal
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Date : 11/27/2020 America Tamilar Peravai (ATP) commemorates Maaveerar Naal Maaveerar Naal – Tamil National Remembrance Day, Tamil people in the homeland and across the diaspora remember those who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for freedom. It is marked on November 27, in memory of the first death of a Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam cadre, Lt Colonel Shankar who died in combat on November 27, 1982. From 1989, the Tamil Liberation army constructed 27 Thuyilum Illams- resting places – for fallen cadres across the Northeast. On Maaveerar Naal, families would visit the cemeteries to pay their respects to their loved ones. Since the weapon silencing of the Tamil force in 2009, Sri Lankan chauvinist security forces have destroyed every cemetery and in some areas, built military bases over them. After 2009, the space for remembrance diminished and Tamil civilians are forced to hold remembrance events in secret. From 2016, Tamil civilians have renewed their efforts to remember the fallen and began clearing the sites and constructing makeshift monuments with the remnants of the destroyed tombstones despite heavy surveillance and harassment from Sri Lanka’s security forces. This year, the Sri Lankan chauvinist state has intensified their repression on Tamil civilian right to remember by intimidating, imposing a series of court orders against commemorative events and both police and Sri Lanka army setting up roadblocks and checkpoints around the Tamil Liberation army cemeteries. The idea of Sri Lanka is built on the supremacy of Sinhala Buddhists racism towards the Tamil civilians, it is the state’s role to uphold the premier place of the Sinhalese in the country and ensure their continued dominance. The long- running Tamil resistance to Sri Lanka government tyranny, which predates the Tamil Liberation army by decades, has always been an obstacle to the Sinhala state. Anything that challenges the Sinhala supremacist narratives, be it the protests of the families of the disappeared, or a symbol as the lighting of a candle in remembrance is a threat to the Sri Lankan government and therefore subject to repression. This clash between Tamil people and the Sri Lankan chauvinist idea of Sinhala dominance is at the heart of the conflict. This courage shown by the Tamil civilians puts them at the forefront of the fight against the Sri Lankan authoritarianism. This must be encouraged to reform the state in a way that respects the rights of all communities, including the Tamil people’s right to self-determination. Apart from Eelam Tamil people’s continued resistance there should be an external intervention in support of Tamil civilians aspiration for justice, accountability and sustainable political solution. Without this pressure from the international community seeking for justice, reconciliation and Tamil people’s right to self- determination, the chances for the progress of Tamil people’s freedom and their statehood are very low. America Tamilar Peravai (ATP) condemns the increased suppression of Tamil people’s rights to remember and stand in solidarity with the organizers and the Eelam Tamil community. Maaveerar Naal has now become a day that shows Tamil people’s commitment to the struggle for self-determination, eleven years following the end of the armed conflict and thirty-one years since Maaveerar Naal first observed by the Tamil Liberation army, November 27 is a day of remembrance and it is a day of resistance and uprising against the tyrannical Sri Lankan Sinhalese government. .