Sri Lankan police officers seized speakers at Lt Col Thileepan's memorial in Nallur, Jaffna, earlier today.
Tamils were gathering at the memorial site to mark the fourth day of Thileepan's fast unto death when Sri Lankan police officers arrived and confiscated the speakers, claiming that the speakers were not authorised for use.
Meanwhile, a plain-clothed officer remained seated inside the police vehicle and video recorded those present at the memorial site.
Tamils have been gathering at the memorial site everyday in Nallur since September 15 to remember Thileepan who fasted unto death, appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.
Local residents were commemorating the political wing leader of the LTTE before the police arrived and disrupted the event. A recently unveiled statue of Thileepan was garlanded and a flame was lit by the father of a fallen LTTE cadre.
Thileepan began his hunger strike on September 15 1987 with 100,000 people gathered around the historic Nallur Kandwaswamy Temple in Jaffna. As he began his strike he put forward 5 demands to the Indian government. He passed away 11 days later after refusing food and water.
Successive Sri Lankan governments have cracked down on Tamil memorialisation activities, frequently banning or disruption commemorative events. A recent report by Adayaalam , a think tank in the North-East, highlighted that Sri Lanka's security forces have also surveilled and intimidated memorial event organisers, summoned them for questioning and increased their presence during commemorations.
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