Participants in New York lining up to pay their respects

Thamileelam Great Heroes’ Day (Maveerar Naal), for the year 2000, was observed in a number of cities throughout the United States in November. This year, for the first time, public events commemorating the martyrs of Thamileelam were held outside New York. Functions were held in Los Angeles (California), San Francisco (California), Margate (Florida), Columbus (Ohio), Chicago (Illinois) and in two locations in Queens (New York). 

Hundreds of people, mostly Tamils of Eelam with quite a good sprinkling of Tamils from Tamil Nadu and a few Americans, gathered at these locations to pay tribute to the martyrs of Thamileelam.

The events commenced with National Anthems of Thamileelam and the USA, followed by floral offerings to symbolic gravestones of the martyred defense forces of Thamileelam set on stage. Everyone lined up to pay homage at the gravestones, and several wept as they filed past making their offerings. A number of family members of the martyred Thamileelam soldiers, now resident in the US, were also formally honored.  There were speeches, songs, dance and drama about the struggle for freedom. Some of the presentations were quite moving. A traditional ‘Anna Thanam’ was served at the end.

Each and every Tamil person from Sri Lanka has been touched by this genocidal war in one way or another. Intermission was an opportunity to exchange personal stories and general news about the events in Thamileelam. Anger and sorrow were the dominant emotions during these exchanges.

Some of these events were held before the observance in Thamileelam, and many were anxious to know what Pirabakaran would say this year. Fortunately, Thamileelam leader Mr. Velupillai Pirabakaran’s the Martyr’s Day Address is available this year on the Internet, in voice, a transcript in Tamil and an English translation.

There were also discussions about activities of the Sri Lankan embassy and some Sinhala groups in the US. 

This year the Sri Lankan Embassy had attempted to disrupt the Maveerar Day events by writing and calling the meeting-hall owners, as they had been doing in other countries for several years. The letter to the hall owners signed by the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Sri Lanka embassy, stated “Now under the name of World Tamil Coordinating Committee, functions are being organized to raise funds for LTTE activities under the guise of commemoration of the dead. We are writing this letter to make you aware about the LTTE, its terroristic nature and the consequences of helping the LTTE”.

All hall owners gave the organizers copies of the embassy letter, and in return received a good education on the atrocities against the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Many of the organizers were grateful for this opportunity to tell their stories to an audience that listened with great interest.

The Sri Lankan embassy effort failed because none of the planned events was canceled.

The Priest at the Our Saviour Lutheran Church, in Queens, New York, also received a call, in addition to a letter. He was told by this caller that it was a fund raising event for a foreign terrorist organization banned in the US. The priest tried to explain that he was familiar with Tamil functions held in his church, that these were cultural shows, and that he has never witnessed any fund raising. The caller, however, kept insisting that it was a fundraiser for a terrorist organization. Exasperated, the priest finally extended his personal invitation to the caller to attend the event, so that he can personally witness what goes on, and with this the caller hung-up.

This priest spoke at the function held in Queens (NY) and said, “This church will always be open to suffering people from anywhere in the world.”

Another hall manager said to the organizers, “If these guys can do this to you here in the United States, I can imagine what they must do to your people in Sri Lanka.”