International Parties Still Reluctant to Recognise Tamil Genocide; Gajendrakumar
14-Sep-2026.
“Except for Canada and Britain, other international parties continue to hesitate to acknowledge that genocide against Tamils took place and avoid recognising it wherever possible,” Tamil National Council leader and Jaffna District Parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said.
He made these remarks while addressing the declaration meeting held at Nallur Kittu Park on 13 September 2026 under the theme “The Voice of the Tamil People for Justice”. The meeting was held at the conclusion of a procession organised by the Tamil National Council calling for international justice in relation to alleged genocide against Tamils, including the Chemmani killings.
He further said:
“On 18 May 2009, the Tamil people's liberation struggle was silenced amid genocide. Since then, despite evidence of genocide emerging from numerous locations, the international community has continued to refuse to acknowledge that genocide took place.
“We were pushed into an armed struggle after a structured campaign of genocide targeting the Tamil population began in our homeland. That genocide reached its peak in Mullivaikkal and continues even today. Although we have presented evidence of this, the international community remains reluctant to acknowledge it.
“Except for countries such as Canada and Britain, other parties continue to avoid recognising, wherever possible, that what was carried out against Tamils in various locations amounted to genocide. It is in this context that evidence and material relating to the killings at Chemmani have now begun to emerge.
“After soldiers involved in the 1996 murder of schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy were identified as perpetrators and convicted, they revealed that more than 600 bodies had been buried at Chemmani.
“The reason they disclosed this information was their anger that although they had carried out killings on the orders of the Government, the Government had not protected them. Even after they disclosed the information, successive Sinhala governments had taken steps from then until today to cover up the Chemmani matter.
“Later, skeletons were discovered during construction activities. Kripakaran discovered them and contacted us, informing us of the matter. We subsequently publicised it through the media.
“When Kripakaran attempted to lodge a complaint with the police, the police refused to accept it. Nevertheless, the continued pressure exerted by us has now led to the discovery of around 600 skeletons in the area.
“When we had been saying that genocide had taken place in our homeland, some among our own people said that there was no evidence of genocide. Chemmani has now become evidence supporting the occurrence of genocide.
“At the same time, the JVP, which pressured the then Government to abandon the peace agreement reached between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Government and supported military recruitment for the ensuing war, is now in power.
“JVP leader and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has stated in several places since coming to power that no soldier connected with matters relating to the war would be brought before a court.
“It is during the rule of such a leader that skeletons are now emerging at Chemmani. At the same time, Sinhala people have accused his Government of taking steps to politicise the judiciary.
“Therefore, with the domestic judiciary politicised and the Government maintaining that soldiers will not be punished, justice for the Chemmani killings and alleged genocide against Tamils can be achieved only through an international criminal investigation,” he said.
