Cortege of slain Tigers in Batticaloa, Kiran

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 February 2005, 08:44 GMT]
Slain LTTE political leader, Mr. Kousalyan’s body was taken to Kiran, 28 kilometres north of Batticaloa, Wednesday afternoon for the people of the village to pay their last respects to him and his colleagues who were killed by gunmen suspected to working with the Sri Lanka military. Hundreds of people filed past the Tiger flag draped coffins which lay at Kiran Government School. “The Sri Lankan government is fully responsible for this heinous crime. Murdering these men who were working for people affected by the Tsunami is an unpardonable act. It reveals the true face of the racist Sinhala regime”, said Mr. Nadarajah Raviraj, Tamil National Alliance MP, addressing the mourners.


The bodies at Theivanayagam Hall in Batticaloa town

TNA MP for Batticaloa Jeyanandamoorthy lighting the lamp at Kiran school

People queueing up in Batticaloa town to pay their last respects for the slain LTTE members

TNA MP for Batticaloa, Mr. P. Ariyanethiran lighting the lamp at Kiran School

The bodies were brought from the Amparai district to Batticaloa town Thursday noon for the public to pay their last respects amid tight security by Sri Lankan armed forces. Tamil National Alliance MPs, religious and civil society leaders from the town spoke at the Deivanayagam Hall where the bodies of Mr. Kousalyan, his colleagues and ex. TNA MP Mr. Ariyanayagam Chandra Nehru lay.

Tamils and Muslims from the town filed past the bodies for an hour, paying their last respects. Later the cortege left for Kiran.

Mr. Chandra Nehru’s body was taken to Thirukkovil, his ancestral village 76 kilometres south of Batticaloa. His funeral would be held there, according to his family.

The bodies of the slain Liberation Tigers were taken from Kiran to Thandiyadi Martyr’s Memorial later in the afternoon burial.

The cortege stopped at all the main villages north of Batticaloa.