Ceylonese community pray for justice

Malaysians Ceylonese Congress (MCC) today organised a prayer for justice at the Divine Life Societies Pravananda hall at Batu Caves.

The prayer conducted by president of Divine Life Society Malaysia Swami Guhabathanda Saraswathi Maharaj, was attended by about 200 people including members of the two largest organization representing the Malaysian Ceylonese, the MCC and Federation of Malaysian Sri Lankan Organisations (FOMSO).

Many who attended the event viewed Killing Fields by Channel 4 and had the opportunity to hear from MCC president Dr NKS Tharmaseelan who was among the first few to serve at the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) campsimmediately after the war in Sri Lanka between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan army.

Among the others who spoke at the event included FOMSO vice president S Logarajah and a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee currently residing in Malaysia.

Tharmaseelan in an emotional speech addressed in Tamil, brought tears to many as he described the former leader of the LTTE the late V Prabhakaran as a warrior.

Referring to the horrendous scenes from the documentary Killing Fields which was screened at the event he added “I think such atrocities cannot go unpunished.

“After all these atrocities, I don’t think the Tamils and the Singhalese can live together in Sri Lanka.

“The only solution, the only prayer that I can ask of Lord Shiva today is to give them Tamil Ellam, give them a separate state,” he said.

The Sri Lankan Tamils fought a 20 year war in a quest to gain a separate state for Tamils.

Over 100,000 lives were lost for this cause and Tamil civilians were subjected to grave human rights violations and violations of international human rights laws.

Speaking on the local scene he said MCC and FOMSO have shook hands and are working together and have recently jointly purchased a Malaysian Ceylonese National Community Center.

He mentioned this in response to the call by Swami Guhabatanandas for all Ceylonese based organizations to come together and work together for the betterment of the community in Malaysia.