The controversy that surrounded last week's demolition of the Mullivaikkal monument at the University of Jaffna, built to memorialise the war dead, was indicative of the fragility of the country’s reconciliation process. The initial demolition led to a chain of events which included a protest, involvement of armed forces, a plea to international governments, and finally the reconstruction of the monument.
Erected in 2019, 10 years after the end of the country’s 26-year civil war, the monument was set to memorialise those killed in Vellamullivaikkal during the final stages of the war. However, on the night of 8 January, the monument was demolished by university officials, which led to an immediate outcry from students, political representatives, and residents.
The backlash
The move led to a protest which took place within the campus premises, where five undergraduates took part in a hunger strike. The demolition of the monument also received social media backlash, which only worsened with the arrival of armed security forces personnel to the university grounds.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a member of the Jaffna University Students’ Union and participant of the hunger strike (on conditions of anonymity) alleged that this demolition was planned by the Government in an ongoing attempt to erase Tamil history and symbols from the North.
He explained that once the authorities saw the severe backlash from both the local and international communities, they decided to rebuild it.
“What we have done is not illegal; it is our basic right as undergraduates to build monuments for what we believe in, in our public universities. Two years ago when we built it, they did not say anything, it was considered appropriate, and now, all of a sudden, they are calling the monument illegal.”
He pointed out that when the protest was taking place from 8 to 11 January, authorities had made sure that only a limited number of people protested in order to ensure the protest was seen as peaceful and did not deviate from their primary goal. “They also considered the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and did not want to create a risky environment with a large gathering of people from other parts of the country.”
The union representative further noted that this was the first time that they witnessed the armed forces and police come inside university grounds during a protest. He explained that prior to this incident, whenever there was a protest, the armed forces would remain outside the university.
“People with any kind of humanity in them can understand our plight and what we are fighting for; it's the people who are corrupt and racist who are pushing for such division. To them, we say that the only way to develop Sri Lanka is together, and we need to peacefully work towards that goal.”
The union activists also made an urgent plea to universities and students around the world, alleging that the “structural genocide of Tamils continues, even though it has been 12 years since the war ended.” The letter which was dated 10 January stated that the plan to remove the monument had been a longstanding one, and accused the Government of consistently thwarting their right to commemorate the deaths of thousands of Tamils.
Sri Lanka also faced the heat about the demolition of the monument from international authorities and communities. These included the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who strongly condemned the move, and Tamils in Switzerland, who held a rally outside the United Nations in Geneva on 12 January.
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A hunger strike took place soon after the demolition of the monument [/caption]
University and Govt. responds
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Senior Professor Sampath Amaratunga stated that the incumbent UGC had not played any role in the demolition of the Mullivaikkal monument, and is yet to receive an official report on its reconstruction.
He explained that the Jaffna University already has two other monuments, one which was erected around 10 or 15 years ago to commemorate peace and the other erected for Tamil independence.
He opined that a university should not have too many monuments within its premises.
When asked about similar monuments in both the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Wayamba University, Prof. Amaratunga stated that those were built to commemorate the sacrifice made by undergraduates during the times of insurgencies, did not involve ethnicity, and have not received any sort of criticism. The issue, he pointed out, was that the current youth are very easily exploited by external parties fulfilling their own narratives.
“We see a lot of harmony now. There are a lot of Sinhalese students in Jaffna University and we see a lot of Tamil students in the southern universities. They live together, learn together, and even play sports together; but no one wants to talk about all these positive things that are currently happening. This is the kind of thing we need; we need to work together for the development of the nation.”
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna Prof. Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah shared a similar sentiment, stating that the student population in Sri Lanka both in the North and South are easily exploited by external parties and political groups.
He explained that this is something that needs to be addressed immediately and the students must see past these exploitation attempts by learning to live in social harmony.
Prof. Srisatkunarajah who was in the heart of the current issue, added that the Mullivaikkal monument was incomplete and unauthorised, which is why he was asked to oversee its demolition.
“I got an instruction from a classified document on defence and social harmony-related matters that this monument was unauthorised. I instructed all my officers to act on it and then they demolished it.”
However, after seeing the widespread outcry from both local and global communities, he stated that the decision was made to erect a new peace memorial in place of the old war memorial with the appropriate authorisations and proper consent of the people.
“I have been here for the last 40 years and I have earned the respect of my students and the country as a whole. So, as soon as I saw my students go on a hunger strike, we negotiated and decided on the new monument by Sunday (10).”
According to Prof. Srisatkunarajah, the issue was resolved peacefully without the presence of any politicians, and the protest was immediately disbanded. The students and the professor have also marked the occasion with a religious ceremony, which was conducted in a temple by the professor himself.
The new monument
The peace monument that resembles the demolished monument is set to be built within the University of Jaffna under the instructions of the Vice Chancellor, who laid the foundation stone for the new memorial on Monday (11). He stated that he is only going to consider the requests of the students and not the community when building the memorial.
“We have a large number of Sinhalese students here, so we will make this a peace monument to remember everyone who died, including the soldiers. We will do this properly, and make sure the monument is architecturally beautiful.”
In order to accomplish this, he stated that the university’s engineering department and design department will be asked to assign a few students to oversee and help with its construction.
The Students’ Union stated that since the monument is on government property, they will not be able to build it to their liking and will have to abide by certain government-issued guidelines. Due to this, they will follow the instructions of the Vice Chancellor and move forward step by step.
Muslims support Jaffna students
Muslim communities in the Eastern Province were seen voicing their support of the Jaffna University students who were protesting the demolishing of the Mullivaikkal monument.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Nizam Kariapper stated that this was due to them understanding the plight of the protesters.
He stated that the community saw a humanitarian cause similar to what the local Muslim community faced a few weeks prior with the forced cremations of Muslims that passed away due to Covid-19 and therefore, the entirety of the community felt the need to stand by the protesters against such insensitivity.
“We feel that both the demolition of the monument and the forced cremation of our dead is largely due to a certain level of insensitivity towards our dead, on the Government's part. We feel that both these instances were politically motivated, since there was no need for either.”
Taking the forced cremations as an example, Kariapper explained that authorities around the world, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), had deemed forced cremations largely unnecessary, as it does not impact the spread of the Covid-19 virus. However, the Sri Lankan Government still conducted forced cremations despite the outcry from the community. Therefore, the Government’s insensitivity when it comes to respecting the dead in these communities is what eventually brought them together.
“We will always stand together with the Tamil community when it comes to such humanitarian causes and other minority issues,” added Kariapper.
Photo by BBC
A hunger strike took place soon after the demolition of the monument [/caption]
University and Govt. responds
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Senior Professor Sampath Amaratunga stated that the incumbent UGC had not played any role in the demolition of the Mullivaikkal monument, and is yet to receive an official report on its reconstruction.
He explained that the Jaffna University already has two other monuments, one which was erected around 10 or 15 years ago to commemorate peace and the other erected for Tamil independence.
He opined that a university should not have too many monuments within its premises.
When asked about similar monuments in both the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Wayamba University, Prof. Amaratunga stated that those were built to commemorate the sacrifice made by undergraduates during the times of insurgencies, did not involve ethnicity, and have not received any sort of criticism. The issue, he pointed out, was that the current youth are very easily exploited by external parties fulfilling their own narratives.
“We see a lot of harmony now. There are a lot of Sinhalese students in Jaffna University and we see a lot of Tamil students in the southern universities. They live together, learn together, and even play sports together; but no one wants to talk about all these positive things that are currently happening. This is the kind of thing we need; we need to work together for the development of the nation.”
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna Prof. Sivakolundu Srisatkunarajah shared a similar sentiment, stating that the student population in Sri Lanka both in the North and South are easily exploited by external parties and political groups.
He explained that this is something that needs to be addressed immediately and the students must see past these exploitation attempts by learning to live in social harmony.
Prof. Srisatkunarajah who was in the heart of the current issue, added that the Mullivaikkal monument was incomplete and unauthorised, which is why he was asked to oversee its demolition.
“I got an instruction from a classified document on defence and social harmony-related matters that this monument was unauthorised. I instructed all my officers to act on it and then they demolished it.”
However, after seeing the widespread outcry from both local and global communities, he stated that the decision was made to erect a new peace memorial in place of the old war memorial with the appropriate authorisations and proper consent of the people.
“I have been here for the last 40 years and I have earned the respect of my students and the country as a whole. So, as soon as I saw my students go on a hunger strike, we negotiated and decided on the new monument by Sunday (10).”
According to Prof. Srisatkunarajah, the issue was resolved peacefully without the presence of any politicians, and the protest was immediately disbanded. The students and the professor have also marked the occasion with a religious ceremony, which was conducted in a temple by the professor himself.
The new monument
The peace monument that resembles the demolished monument is set to be built within the University of Jaffna under the instructions of the Vice Chancellor, who laid the foundation stone for the new memorial on Monday (11). He stated that he is only going to consider the requests of the students and not the community when building the memorial.
“We have a large number of Sinhalese students here, so we will make this a peace monument to remember everyone who died, including the soldiers. We will do this properly, and make sure the monument is architecturally beautiful.”
In order to accomplish this, he stated that the university’s engineering department and design department will be asked to assign a few students to oversee and help with its construction.
The Students’ Union stated that since the monument is on government property, they will not be able to build it to their liking and will have to abide by certain government-issued guidelines. Due to this, they will follow the instructions of the Vice Chancellor and move forward step by step.
Muslims support Jaffna students
Muslim communities in the Eastern Province were seen voicing their support of the Jaffna University students who were protesting the demolishing of the Mullivaikkal monument.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Nizam Kariapper stated that this was due to them understanding the plight of the protesters.
He stated that the community saw a humanitarian cause similar to what the local Muslim community faced a few weeks prior with the forced cremations of Muslims that passed away due to Covid-19 and therefore, the entirety of the community felt the need to stand by the protesters against such insensitivity.
“We feel that both the demolition of the monument and the forced cremation of our dead is largely due to a certain level of insensitivity towards our dead, on the Government's part. We feel that both these instances were politically motivated, since there was no need for either.”
Taking the forced cremations as an example, Kariapper explained that authorities around the world, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), had deemed forced cremations largely unnecessary, as it does not impact the spread of the Covid-19 virus. However, the Sri Lankan Government still conducted forced cremations despite the outcry from the community. Therefore, the Government’s insensitivity when it comes to respecting the dead in these communities is what eventually brought them together.
“We will always stand together with the Tamil community when it comes to such humanitarian causes and other minority issues,” added Kariapper.
Photo by BBC