Sri Lanka's archaeology department has claimed that the eight Tamil devotees at Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple were arrested during the Shivarathri for damaging the temple's antiquities.
Lawyers representing the eight devotees who were arrested without any warrant during the Shivarathri observances at the Veddukkunaari Temple yesterday said the individuals are being held without charge and have been ill-treated at the time of their arrest.
Multiple attempts have been made by the Sri Lankan state to suppress the commemoration of Lt. Col. Thileepan. While these ongoing efforts to suppress Tamil people’s right to remember our heroes has been an implicit state policy, it manifests itself overtly during such landmark commemorative events.