Sri Lanka: Demonstration of Tamils demanding credible investigation of mass grave in Sri Lanka, call for bandh

Dozens of male skeletons were found in mass graves in many areas of Sri Lanka. After this there was a demand for investigation of those skeletons. This matter is not over yet. Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority northern and eastern regions observed a shutdown on Friday as Tamils, a minority community in Sri Lanka, demanded a credible investigation into an alleged mass grave in the northeastern district of Mullathivu.

Relatives of those who went missing in Sri Lanka’s civil war and other conflicts in the northern and eastern regions of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Mullathivu called for protests by shutting down businesses and staying indoors. Jaffna University’s United Students’ Union called for a shutdown in a statement and, however, protests in Vavuniya, Amapara and Trincomalee districts were unsuccessful.

According to a media report, 2009 saw the end of a 26-year civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Tamil Tigers that had claimed 100,000 lives and according to Sri Lankan government figures, more than 20,000. are still missing.

In June, an alleged mass grave was accidentally discovered at Kokkuthuduvai by workers of the National Water Board during excavation activities for a development project in the area. On July 6, the Mullaitivu magistrate’s court supervised the digging of the alleged mass grave. Tamil political party sources said human remains of at least 13 people were found there. Relatives of those missing during the separatist armed conflict have called for an international investigation of the grave.

Earlier a report said that thousands of bodies may still be buried in these unknown mass graves which have not been detected. Reportedly, none of the many commissions of inquiry set up by Sri Lankan governments were ordered to investigate the mass grave. Instead, efforts to uncover the truth were blocked.