Court issues ban on kanji offerings in Vesak month to curb ‘terrorism’
An attempt made by Tamil mothers of the eastern province to serve kanji (rice porridge) to the residents of the area in remembrance of their loved ones who died 15 years ago due to heavy bombardment, starvation and disease due to no access to food and medicines, has been stopped by the police with the help of a court order.
This is the second ban within two days imposed on offering kanji in the eastern province.
Regional correspondents explained that on the morning of 14 May (Tuesday), armed police officers, including the Periyaneelavanai Police Station’s Officer-in-Charge (OIC) J.S.K. Weerasinghe, arrived at the Pandirippu Arasadi Amman Kovil in Kalmunai. The police officers had presented the order issued by the Kalmunai Magistrates Court, and had ordered the group to stop preparing kanji.
The preparation of kanji was slated to begin under the leadership of Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) Amparai District Organiser Pushparaj Thushanandan and Amparai District Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances’ (ARED) President Thambirasa Selvarani.
According to the court order, this remembrance is for members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Issuing the order in response to a request made by the OIC of the Periyaneelavanai Police Station, Kalmunai Magistrate S.M.S.M. Samsudeen had pointed out the reasons for the ban imposed on the distribution of ‘Mullivaikkal kanji’. It said that the court order was issued since conducting these types of activities in remembrance of members of the LTTE, which is a banned organisation in Sri Lanka, creates an opportunity to revive terrorism.
The court order, addressed to Thushanandan, says that this ban will remain effective from 14 to 17 May.
Enforcing a court order that prohibits the distribution of Kanji in remembrance of those who were killed during the war 15 years ago and are yet to receive justice, officers of the Sampur Police Station had also arrested four Tamils, including three women, on the night of 12 May.
Residents of the area have videoed male officers in police uniform dragging the arrested women along the ground in an inhumane manner.
Regional correspondents said that Kamaleswaran Thennila, Kamaleswaran Vijitha, Selvavinodh Sujani, and Navaretneraja Hariharakumar, who were arrested by the police on the night of 12 May (Sunday), have been remanded for 14 days by the Mutur Magistrates Court.
Mullavaikkal Kanji (முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் கஞ்சி)
During the final stages of the war, tens of thousands of Tamils were confined to a strip of coastal land designated as a No Fire Zone (NFZ) by the government, to be bombed by shell, areal, and artillery attacks, and denied access to medicine. The sole sustenance for survival was the porridge immortalised as ‘Mullavaikkal Kanji’.
It consisted of rice boiled in water. When possible, a pinch of salt was added.
This year’s Tamil Genocide Week commenced in the North and East on 11 May, and it involved the giving out of kanji prepared with rice collected from households. The week ends with a mass memorial held in Mullavaikkal on 18 May, where participants’ loved ones denied justice even 15 years after the war are remembered.
According to the United Nations’ (UN) estimates, at least 70,000 unarmed people have died in the war. Successive Sri Lankan governments have rejected these findings.
