You can seize a statue at dawn. You cannot erase Tamil history — or hide the war crimes of the Sri Lankan state. Nallur remembers. The world remembers. pic.twitter.com/yVwuO7ETfY
The mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, has condemned the removal of the Thileepan statue from his memorial at Nallur by Sri Lankan police, describing it as part of a continuing attempt to erase Tamil history, memory and identity.
"Sadly, this is not an isolated act," Brown said. "The Sri Lankan state has committed genocide against the Tamil people, from the pogroms of 1958 to Black July in 1983 to the massacre at Mullivaikkal in 2009."
"The genocide continues today in other forms. Attempts to erase Tamil history, Tamil memory and Tamil identity. Memorials bulldozed, commemorations are policed, statues are taken away in the early hours of the morning. But you cannot erase history."
"The world has seen the evidence of the Tamil genocide. The world knows. No attempt to silence the past or erase the past will change the truth that remains."
Brown pointed to the Tamil Genocide Monument in Brampton, whose construction the city began in 2024.
"Here in Brampton, we proudly built the Tamil Genocide Monument so the truth will never be buried. You cannot erase history. And I will continue to speak out against the ongoing Tamil genocide by the Sri Lankan state. We will never forget. We will always remember."
He closed with a message to Colombo. "To the war criminals living in luxury in Colombo, do not think you can get away with the mass murder, the atrocity, and the genocide that you committed. The world knows."
Sri Lankan police removed the bronze statue of Lt Col Thileepan from the memorial on Nallur Back Road on the morning of Sunday 28 September, the day after commemorations marking 39 years since his death concluded. More than twenty officers arrived in two vehicles, led by the officer in charge of the Jaffna headquarters police station. CCTV recorded the removal taking place in the early hours.
The Sri Lankan government gave its first explanation on Tuesday, the cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa saying the law does not permit the promotion of a banned organisation and that police had presented facts to a court before acting. Neither the court nor the case was named, and police have not said where the statue has been taken or whether it will be returned.
Protests have spread across the North-East since, with demonstrations organised by associations of the relatives of the enforcedly disappeared in Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Mannar and Trincomalee, further protests in Amparai, and a second consecutive day of protest at the memorial in Nallur.
Brampton, in Ontario, is home to one of the largest Eelam Tamil populations outside the Tamil homeland. Construction of the Tamil Genocide Monument in the city began in 2024, an initiative of the National Council of Canadian Tamils, the Brampton Tamil Association and the Brampton Tamil Seniors Association, and dedicated to the victims of the genocide.
Ontario passed the Tamil Genocide Education Week Act in 2021, which requires the province to recognise the week of 18 May each year in remembrance of the Tamil genocide. Brown has previously spoken at Tamil Eelam National Flag Day events in the city.
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
Please use below email to contact us:
Loading comments…