North Lanka CM leads stir for Tamils’ cause

“It has been seven years since the war ended. Tamil people are yet to receive reasonable solutions to their grievances,” he said, referring to the defeat of LTTE which was fighting for an independent state for minority Tamils.

Army crushed the Tamil Tigers after a three decade-long conflict in 2009 and eliminated top LTTE leadership including V Prabhakaran, who had made Jaffna rebels’ capital. 

Tamil Makkal National Front organised the Saturday’s protest march and a rally to highlight issues faced by the community. 

The demonstrators asked the government to halt Sinhala majority settlements and stop building Buddhist religious shrines in Tamil areas and return of the Tamil civilian lands held for military purposes. 

Analysts said this was the first time the northerners took part in such a big scale since Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena took over in January last year.

“Businesses remain shut in the Jaffna town in solidarity,” the residents said.