35th anniversary of Tamil Conference victims held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 09:31 GMT]
The 35th anniversary memorial of the eleven Tamils shot and killed by Sri Lanka policemen during the Fourth International Tamil Conference on 10 January 1974 was held Saturday in Jaffna esplanade in front of Veerasingam Hall where the memorial monuments for the civilians who had been killed stand erected, sources in Jaffna said.

Hundreds of people including political personalities and public took part in the memorial event held Saturday.

The killings took place while Prof. Naina Mohamed from Chennai who had come to take part in the Conference was speaking on the richness of the Tamil Language to the thousands gathered for the event on Jaffna esplanade.

The report of the Commission of Inquiry on the Tragedy of January Tenth 1974 published on 18th February 1974 said, "The irresistible conclusion we come to is that the police on this night (10 January 1974) was guilty of a violent and quite an unnecessary attack on unarmed citizens.

"We are gravely concerned that they lacked the judgment which we expected of policemen in a civilian police force whose duties call for tactful handling even in the most difficult situation.”