Maveerar Naal - Great Heroes Day

The month of November marks Tamil Remembrance Day or Maveerar Naal; a day to remember Eelam's Great heroes or Maveerars who sacrificed their lives to fight state-led genocide, violence, and oppression. Every year on November 27th, Eelam Tamils in the homeland and diaspora come together to commemorate and remember the fallen militants who fought for the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). The first Maveerar Naal, or Great Heroes Day, was held in private on November 27th, 1989, on the day the first cadre, Lt. Shankar succumbed to his injuries in combat and passed away. Eventually, the LTTE started developing ways to commemorate its dead heroes publicly. They built thuyilum illam or resting place for their maaveerars in territory they controlled and the Karthikaipoo/Gloriosa Lilly which bloomed in the the month of Karthikai (mid-November to mid-December), became the official symbol of Maveerar Naal and the national flower of Tamil Eelam.

Following the end of the war in 2009, the Sri Lankan government banned any attempt at commemorating Maaveerar Naal and destroyed the remaining LTTE cemeteries and monuments erected in remembrance, denying Tamils the basic human right to mourn their dead. Despite the risk of imprisonment and violence, Tamils in the North and East, alongside Tamils worldwide, continue to celebrate Maaveerar Naal. We, as a collective, refuse to let our history be erased.

We remember. We resist.