03/08/2011
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Groundviews
The following article was published in the Uthayan newspaper on 5 March 2011. The translation to English is based on a Sinhala translation published in Vikalpa.
Not a single Sinhala newspaper to date has published a similar account, though many reported on the opening of the new Army Headquarters in Jaffna. Of the English media, only the Daily Mirror quotes a BBC report on the desecration of the graves. As well-known blogger Guruparan notes in a succinct tweet, “This is really sad. A local newspaper has to quote an international media to report on a local story.”
No other English media online or in print have covered this story. Readers on our Facebook page have expressed grave concern and outrage over this action by the Army. Sadly, this is not the first time the Army has desecrated LTTE graves. An interview with Prof. Michael Roberts conducted in December 2010 explores this issue in detail, and why it is so damning to reconciliation and a lasting peace in Sri Lanka. As Prof. Roberts notes in an essay dealing with this outrageous practice, “The absence of tuyilam illam, in other words, will serve as a focal point for enhanced embitterment towards the government.”
03/07/2011
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BBC
It has emerged that a new military headquarters in northern Sri Lanka has been built on the site of a Tamil Tiger graveyard earlier flattened by the army.
03/05/2011
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TamilNet
Sri Lanka military occupying the Tamil country opened a new fort and an extensive military base on Friday at Koappaay in Jaffna, over the graves and memorials of the heroes who laid down their lives to the cause of the liberation of Eezham Tamils. The Chinese helped the occupying SL military to raze down the Maaveerar Thuyilumidam (the resting place of the heroes) and to build the fortress at that very premises for the occupying Army to tread on it. The resident of the king of Jaffna was at Koappaay during the times of the Kingdom of Jaffna. The Portuguese destroyed it in the 17th century. The US State Department coined the word 'reconciliation' but Colombo is writing the meaning for the word, commented a Tamil politician in Jaffna.