Pro-Tamil leaders Inaugurate Mullivaikal Memorial Museum

The sculptures have been fashioned based on the line drawings rendered by artist Veera Santhanam and have been carved out by Mamallapuram Sthapathi Murugan and his team.

Tamil victims of war crimes carried out by the Sri Lankan government are honored at a new museum in Mullivaikkal Ninaivu Muttram.

(CHENNAI) - Mullivaikkal Ninaivu Muttram, a memorial for the Sri Lankan Tamils who lost their lives in the bloody war in Sri Lanka has come up in Vilar road near Thanjavur.

A brainchild of World Tamils Confederation, this memorial is the only sad reminder of the dead Tamils in Sri Lanka where each and every remnant of the war with the tiger rebels has been wiped out by the Sri Lankan Army, including the house where LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran lived.

Pazha Nedumaran is supervising the works of Mullivaikkal Ninaivu Muttram. Commissioned by Ulaga Thamizhar Peravai, this has come into reality with the efforts of hundreds of sculptors and many artists.

The sculptures have been fashioned based on the line drawings rendered by artist Veera Santhanam and have been carved out by Mamallapuram Sthapathi Murugan and his team. A beautiful stone sculpture of Mother Tamil weighing 40 tonnes decorates the central part of the memorial. The memorial is also home to photographs of some Tamil kings who opposed British rule, and notes and pictures of LTTE commanders.

Mullivaikkal Ninaivu Muttram has come into shape through contributions from far and wide. The sculptures tell the poignant teary stories of Tamil killings, murder of Kutti Mani-Thangadurai, torching of Jaffna library and portrays the peaceful lives Eezham Tamils led in the island nation including national bird and tree of Eezham.

Each sculpture in the memorial depicts the untold misery and pain that the Tamils underwent during the final stages of the ethnic war,when human rights were abused and war crimes were committed by the Sri Lankan Army. The sculptures show heart-rending images of wailing mothers, broken limbs, guns and dead bodies.

The foundation stone of this memorial hall was laid three years ago was originally planned to be just a memorial pillar. However,with the increasing wipe-out of victory memorials of LTTE in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lankan Army, it was decided to be made into a memorial to leave a trace of the bloody civil strife that killed Tamils in Sri Lanka in the pages of history. Built to last for centuries, Mullivaikkal Ninaivu Muttram is set to be unveiled on November 8,9 and 10.

Pro-Tamil leaders inaugurate Mullivaikal memorial even as police wait to challenge court order

MADURAI: Even as the Tamil Nadu government waited to file an appeal against a Madras high court single judge order which directed the police to give permission to the inauguration of the Mullivaikal memorial at Vilaar at Thanjavur district, some pro-Tamil leaders quietly went ahead with a small opening ceremony of the memorial on Wednesday.

Pazha Nedumaran, founder-president of the World Tamil Confederation, told TOI that the memorial was inaugurated as they feared that it would be demolished.

"We came to know that the central intelligence department is working towards stopping the inauguration and some of the state intelligence people came to the venue and intimidated our workers. We heard that they even threatened to demolish the structure," he said.

Condemning the 'attitude of the authorities' in the strongest terms, he said, "Though the memorial is inaugurated today, two days ahead of schedule, the three-day conference will go ahead as planned on Friday".

The memorial is dedicated to the Tamils who were massacred by the Sri Lankan army.

On a petition filed by P Nedumaran of the Ulaga Thamizhar Peramaippu, Justice T Raja on Tuesday gave direction to the police to give permission for the function. On Wednesday morning, superintendent of police of Thanjavur district G Dharmaraj approached a division bench of Justices M Jaichandren and S Vaidyanathan seeking its permission to file an appeal against the single judge's order.

The bench raised concern over the issue by stating, "Yesterday (Tuesday) the single judge passed an order granting permission to the function and two petitions which challenged the function were dismissed by this same division bench." However, the bench gave permission to the police to file the appeal on Wednesday afternoon after they receive the order of the single bench. The police were waiting for the order when the report was filed.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Pro-Tamil-leaders-inaugurate-Mullivaikal-memorial-even-as-police-wait-to-challenge-court-order/articleshow/25323945.cms