Strict police vigil at Eelam memorial: Entry restricted to Mullivaikkal site

The memorial site too is now under the pol­ice’s control, entry of people and vehicles being restricted. Even the media, present to cover the latest developments, could enter only with permission. Meanwhile, the second judicial magistrate co­urt here rejected the bail applications of Ulaga Thamizhar Pera­m­aippu president P. Nedumaran and 81 others.

Despite these restrictions, the visitors were making a beeline to the memorial. “Police did not allow visitors till 11 am. Only after we pro­tested were they admitted,” alleged Sami Karikalan, member of the Mullivaikkal Mem­orial Trust, who also objected to the presence of a large number of police personnel on the premises of the memorial.

“We have no objection to the police protecting the area belonging to the highways department. But the presence of police personnel on the premises of the me­m­orial instills a sense of fear in visitors. The police also hasten the visitors out of the me­morial which is located on private, but patta, land,” Karikalan alle­ged.

Thanthai Periyar Dr­a­vidar Kazhagam fou­nder president K. Ram­a­krishnan, who visited the memorial on Thur­sday, also appealed to the authorities to im­me­diately withdraw the police force from the memorial site and allow entry of visitors without any restrictions.

“The state government must protect the Mullivaikkal memorial for those dead in Eelam war and make it easy for visitors to come and see it without any res­trictions or fear,” Ram­akr­ishnan said.