Sri Lanka’s northeast partially shuts down over uncovered mass grave

Sri Lanka’s northeast, a former war zone, on Friday observed a shutdown seeking a credible probe into a mass grave uncovered in the northern district of Mullaitivu, which for long years was a Tamil Tiger bastion.

The protest was called by relatives of the disappeared people in the regions of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar and Mullaitivu. Most businesses were shut and most people remained indoors during the day.

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According to government officials, over 20,000 people are missing due to various conflicts including the quarter-century-long Tamil separatist campaign in the island nation’s north and east which ended in May 2009.

A student organisation of Jaffna University expressed solidarity with the protest. But the shutdown was not successful in multi-racial Vavuniya in the north as well as Ampara and Trincomalee districts in the east.

In June, a mass grave was accidentally discovered at Kokkuthuduvai in Mullaitivu district by workers engaged in digging activities for a development project.

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On July 6, the Mullaitivu magistrate court supervised the digging of the mass grave, which Tamil sources said contained remains of at least 13 people. The relatives of the missing people want an international investigation into the grave.

Mullaitivu district was where the Sri Lankan military finally crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and shot dead virtually its entire top brass including founder-leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

(With agency inputs)