Protest against Moolakothalam graveyard demolition gathers strength

The cemetery is the resting place for language martyrs including Thalamuthu and Natarajan. MDMK general secretary Vaiko, Dravidar Kazhagam president K Veeramani, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan and others took part in the demonstration and raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the move. 

Addressing the gathering, Vaiko alleged that those who had constructed multi-storeyed buildings around the area did not like a graveyard near their residence and wanted to remove it. The owners of the multi-storeyed buildings had bribed the officials to clear the graveyard which was being used for the last 120 years, he charged.  

Stating that the graveyard is a symbol for the sacrifices made by Tamils in the last hundred years, Vaiko said the body of Muthukumar, who committed self-immolation in 2009 demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka was cremated in it, and Amaresan, who committed self-immolation for the same cause. He also pointed out that a memorial for Dharmambal, who fought for social justice had also been built in the graveyard. 

Throughout the world, the burial grounds are protected, Vaiko said and cited the example of the British government maintaining the cemetery at London where Communist party’s founder Karl Marx and poet George Eliot were buried.