Tamil Nadu CM condemns Mullivaikkal war memorial demolition in Sri Lanka's Jaffna varsity

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami has "strongly condemned" the demolition of the Mullivaikkal war memorial at the Jaffna University campus in Sri Lanka. While taking to Twitter, Palaniswami called the news of the removal of the monument "shocking" and added that the act has caused "great pain" to the Tamils across the globe. The Tamil war memorial in Jaffna University, which was built in memory of the people and students who died in Mullivaikkal war in 2009, was destroyed by the authorities in Sri Lanka on January 9. 

Palaniswami wrote, "The news that a monument erected at the Jaffna University campus in memory of university students and the general public who were mercilessly killed in the final phase of the war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, has been demolished overnight is shocking." 

"I strongly condemn this monthly act of the Government of Sri Lanka which has caused great pain to the Tamils of the world and to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna who accompanied it," the Tamil Nadu CM said in another tweet. 

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'Timely decision' 

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka UGC Chairman said that the decision to remove the memorial was taken by Vice-Chancellor Professor Srisatkunarajah, as it can be an obstruction to unity between the North and South. Professor Amaratunga said that the Vice-Chancellor had decided that the memorial statue does not suit the present or the future, so he instructed the statue to be removed from the university premises. It is worth noting that the Jaffna region has a majority ethnic Tamil population and the region had witnessed a brutal civil war between the LTTE and Sri Lankan forces that continued for several years and led to the loss of lives of thousands of people. 

The UGC Chairman said, "Our students who are presently in the university system would have been 9, 10, and 11 years old when the war ended. Regardless of their race or religion, Tamil, Sinhala or Muslim, they are all our children. I’m happy to say that some 1,500 Sinhala students study at the Jaffna university today. Similarly, at least 600 to 700 Tamil students, especially from the North and East are studying in universities of the South. There are no problems among these students, and that is most important." 

While calling the removal a "timely decision" he added that the university needs memorials of peace, not war. "We should engage in these requirements together with our students," he added. 

(With inputs from ANI) 

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