Vavuniya school remembers massacred students
19 November 2015
The Thandikulam Agriculture Farm School in Vavuniya held a ceremony to mark the 9th anniversary since the massacre of 5 students by Sri Lankan security forces.
On the 11th of November 2006 Sri Lankan troops raided the school and lined up the students, before executing them.
School principal Kumuthiny Chandrakanthan lit a memorial flame, with other school officials, students and relatives of those killed present at the ceremony. A blood donation event was also held in memory of those killed.
“These soldiers fired indiscriminately at a group of students who had thrown themselves on the ground seeking safety after an LTTE (Tamil Tiger) claymore mine blast nearby,"said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to Reuters at the time.
"Witnesses say that soldiers jumped over the fence, into the agricultural school premises, and opened fire," she added. "They shot from close range, five of the students were killed and at least 10 others were injured."
Condemning the crime, the Tamil National Alliance said at the time:
On the 11th of November 2006 Sri Lankan troops raided the school and lined up the students, before executing them.
School principal Kumuthiny Chandrakanthan lit a memorial flame, with other school officials, students and relatives of those killed present at the ceremony. A blood donation event was also held in memory of those killed.
“These soldiers fired indiscriminately at a group of students who had thrown themselves on the ground seeking safety after an LTTE (Tamil Tiger) claymore mine blast nearby,"said Helen Olafsdottir, spokeswoman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to Reuters at the time.
"Witnesses say that soldiers jumped over the fence, into the agricultural school premises, and opened fire," she added. "They shot from close range, five of the students were killed and at least 10 others were injured."
Condemning the crime, the Tamil National Alliance said at the time:
“This is yet another crime in a very long list of such crimes that have deliberately and systematically targeted innocent Tamil civilians. These are War Crimes of the most serious nature.”
“The TNA wishes to point out that the GOSL Armed Forces are over 99% Sinhalese, and are openly hostile to the Tamil people. The Tamil people look upon the GOSL armed forced as an Army of Occupation and have every reason to fear that the massacre of Tamil civilians will continue for as long as the GOSL Armed Forces continue to occupy the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people.”
