A new cultural campaign against Tamils in Vanni, Sri Lanka

(June 15,2010) “The provinces of northern Sri Lanka are undergoing a different kind of attack, and this time it is not military, but cultural and religious”, said a Human Rights activist. They are faced with the “Sinhalisation” of the area, Rukshan Fernando told AsiaNews. The human rights activist and Director of the Law and Society Trust made the remarks after completing a tour of the provinces of Vanni and Killinochi. He noted that Tamil language road signs have disappeared and everything now is in Sinhalese. The military claim that Tamil terms are too long and complicated, he added. He pointed out that place names are in both languages, but the one in Sinhalese comes first.
The Human Rights activist said that the attempt to change local history and society also involves religion. “Buddhist temples have been rebuilt and are spotless, whereas the places of worship of other religions are not allowed to do the same. And the difference is clearly visible, since soldiers are involved in the work at Buddhist sites”, he said. Stating that this campaign also includes monument building, he said “Soldiers are building all sorts of monuments, hailing the victory of the government and the army over the Tamil Tigers. But for locals, they are a symbol of their domination, also because no one is allowed to build anything to commemorate the Tamil war dead,” said the Human Rights activist .