Wellamulla Vaikkal commemoration is planned for May 18 as C. V. Vigneswaran says the event remembers Tamil civilians, not LTTE.
The Wellamulla Vaikkal commemoration is being planned again this year to remember Tamil civilians who died during the final battle, former Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Vigneswaran has said.
Vigneswaran stated that arrangements are being made to hold the event in the Wellamulla Vaikkal area, with confidence among political parties and people in the North that the current government will not obstruct the commemoration.
He stressed that the event is not, in any way, a pro-LTTE commemoration. According to him, it is intended only to remember Tamil civilians who lost their lives during the final stages of the war.
The commemoration is scheduled to be held on May 18 in the Wellamulla Vaikkal area. Tamil political parties in the North are currently discussing the arrangements connected to the event.
However, questions remain over how the commemoration will be received in the South, where similar events have previously been viewed with suspicion by some groups.
Vigneswaran said relatives of deceased Tamil civilians in the North had attempted to hold the commemoration for several years. However, he said the government had obstructed such attempts in the past due to various opinions expressed by people in the South, who claimed it was a pro-LTTE event.
This raises concerns about whether Sri Lanka can separate civilian remembrance from political controversy, especially when dealing with the painful legacy of the final battle and its continuing impact on families in the North.
The former Chief Minister expressed confidence that there will be no obstruction to this year’s planned event. He said commemorating the dead is a common practice for any community, and that Tamil civilians who died in the final battle should also be remembered by their relatives and community.
What happens next could be critical, as this year’s Wellamulla Vaikkal commemoration may test the government’s approach to reconciliation, remembrance, and the right of communities to mourn their dead without renewed political tension.
