At 8.30 am on the 9th of May 2005 people, including school students, staged a peaceful protest against the setting up of a new checkpoint near the Santhiveli school in Valaichenai. The military opened fire at the protesters. 65-year-old Kandasamy was killed on the spot and sixteen protesters were taken to hospital.
Protesting peacefully against authority is a fundamental democratic right that is never challenged. It is the only tool unarmed people have to change oppressive conditions. It is an essential tool to resolve conflict through peaceful means. People of the Northeast, with encouragement from the international community, have whole-heartedly adopted the path of peaceful means to remove the oppressive mechanisms prevailing in their region.
With the confidence that the international community will be on the people's side in their peaceful protests, they have started to carry out peaceful protests as a means of effecting change. People have staged many peaceful protests in the recent months against the military’s conduct that disrupts their daily life. Many times during such protests they have had to face the armed violence of the Sri Lankan military machine.
NESOHR would like to also point out that this behaviour of the Sri Lankan military of using violence against unarmed protesters has a long history dating back to 1956. Unarmed Tamils who were protesting the Sinhala Only (language) act in 1956 and 1961 were met with the mindless violence of the Sri Lankan military.
Where can the people turn when peaceful protesters are killed mindlessly by the armed forces?
Fr. M. X. Karunaratnam, Chairman
© 2005-2010 NESOHR