MDMK founder Vaiko has questioned the Union government for not officially denouncing the demolition of a memorial monument for Tamils killed in Mullivaikkal in Sri Lanka during peak hostilities in 2009. The monument was established in 2019 in the University of Jaffna in memory of the civilian Tamils killed in one of the bloody episodes of the island nation's last leg of the three-decade old conflict in 2009. It was reportedly demolished on Thursday night.
“I deplore and condemn the act of demolishing the memorial erected in the Jaffna University in the memory of the Tamils killed in the genocide. But the memory cannot be erased in our minds. I condemn the Indian govt because they haven't reacted to this,” MDMK Chief Vaiko said.
Vaiko, along with Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi leader T Velmurugan, have called for a protest outside the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission in Chennai on Monday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, his deputy O Panneerselvam and DMK President MK Stalin had also slammed the demolition. CM Palaniswami said the demolition has pushed Tamils across the world into 'grief' and blamed the Sri Lankan government for bringing it down.
"It comes as a big shock that the memorial pillar, set up in memory of university students and people killed mercilessly in Mullivaikkal in the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka has been demolished overnight," the chief minister said in a tweet.
Panneerselvam also took to Twitter to strongly condemn the demolition and said it came at a time when efforts were on to ensure justice for the 'hordes' of Tamil civilians killed in the "Ealam war."
DMK President MK Stalin, while slamming the incident, wanted India to condemn the demolition.
In a tweet, he tagged the twitter handle of the Office of the Prime Minister of India and said the PMO should "condemn this shocking incident. This is the expectation of the Tamils globally," he added.
PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss, in a tweet, called for India's intervention in ensuring the livelihood of Sri Lankan Tamils, saying it should not "wash its hands" off their well-being.
India should "ponder over" how Tamils can live with equality and honour when even such a structure was not allowed to exist, he said, in an apparent reference to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's recent remarks.
During his Sri Lanka visit, Jaishankar had said on Wednesday that "it is in Sri Lanka's own interests that expectations of Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled."
Tagging Jaishankar in a tweet, Ramadoss urged New Delhi to take up the matter with Colombo and ensure Tamils' "right to life."
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder and Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumavalavan and Naam Tamizhar Katchi leader Seeman also criticised the demolition of the structure, allegedly by authorities on Friday.
With PTI inputs