Missing

Today we drove to Killinochchi so my friend F could take some cake (homemade) and drinks to a group of women protesters and show solidarity with them. The area around Killinochchi was devastated during the war and the last standoff and massacre happened not far from there. A lot of Tamil civilians were picked up by the police or military and are still missing eight years after the end of the conflict.

A group of mostly women whose daughters, sons, or grandchildren disappeared during the conflict are holding a sit-in protest outside a temple on the main road through Killinochchi calling for the government to give them information about the fate of their relatives. Similar protests have been taking place in a few other affected parts of the country too. They’ve been there for 27 days and not one current politician has responded or been to listen to their demands. Only local Tamil media has reported on their campaign, the Colombo-based, national media have ignored it so far.

Today there were about 30-35 women and a few men there, sitting in the shade of a tent. The protest is continuous but not everyone involved is present all the time. There are laminated photographs of all their missing children hanging from the tent. Most are adults and some are young teenagers pictured in their school uniforms. A couple of whole families disappeared. One woman told us that her 16 year old daughter had been taken by the military. Another summed up their anguish and frustration: “This is a small country, they must know where our children are. Why won’t they just tell us?”


There could have been many powerful portraits of these determined women protesters but they requested no photographs. So my photo doesn't fit at all with the text. This is some dosa being made at the restaurant we went to in the evening.