Batticaloa deserted on Sri Lanka's Independence Day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 February 2004, 06:38 GMT]
Batticaloa town was deserted Wednesday in response to a call by local organisations to boycott Sri Lanka’s Independence Day and to observe it as a black day for Tamils. Shops, offices and public buildings were closed. Very few people and vehicles were on the roads in the eastern town.


The deserted main bazaar of Batticaloa town Wednesday

The customary Independence Day ceremony at the District Secretariat in the town’s Dutch period fort scheduled at 9.08 a.m. was cancelled.

Sri Lanka Police, however, held a ceremony to mark the day at the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police.


The town's private bus station