Remembering and paying homage to the dead is a cultural event. It’s the basic right of the Tamils. All the ethnic groups in the world have the right and pay respect to their departed. The political charters around the world ensure the rights of the people to carry on the birth and death rites which are long embodied in their culture. The UN defines this as a natural right that has to be protected. Based on this an event is conducted every year, for the past 7 years in the shores of the Tamil Ocean, Marina beach to remember the massacred Eelam Tamils.
This event is held to pay respect to the Eelam Tamils. Tamils have a culture of paying respect to their dead relatives near a water body. Aadhichanalloor, a 6000 year old archeological site that was discovered on the banks of river Thamirabarani was a burial site. The Tamilnadu police have the responsibility to protect this culture of the Tamils. The international charters and the Indian constitution embody this right as a basic human right. Nothing can deny this right to the Tamils. The government is denying the cultural rights of the Tamils citing a colonial era Section 41 Madras city police act, which was brought by the British to prevent any gathering.
In the same Marina beach Tamils pay homage to their dead relatives. The people pay respect to leaders like Anna durai, MGR, Jeyalalitha in the same beach. None of the laws say that permission should be sought by the people before they pay homage. It’s based on the same right that the May17 movement is organizing the candle light vigil to pay respect to the massacred Eelam Tamils.
The political parties in TamilNadu passed a resolution in the Tamilnadu assembly that what happened in Eelam was genocide. Ideally the TamilNadu government itself should have come forward to organize an event to remember the martyred Tamils. The political parties which supported the resolution should have borne the responsibility to conduct that. But they did not do it. The ordinary working class people of Tamilnadu have taken up that for themselves. The government should have facilitated the people. But contrary to that we see that BJP government is trying to stop the remembrance event that has been happening for the past 7 years. The Weak TamilNadu government has bowed to the BJP government. We condemn the BJP and RSS which has always been against the Eelam Tamils, which is now trying to interfere in cultural rights of the Tamils to pay homage to the dead.
Inspite of the BJP and the weak TamilNadu governments unlawful attempts to curb the Fundamental cultural rights of the Tamils, Candle light vigil to remember the massacred Eelam Tamils will happen as planned in Marina, in front of the Kannagi statue, at 5 PM on May 21,2017.
Democratic forces should come forward to condemn this fascist oppressive acts of the state.
