Claim: Image from Sri Lanka, showing an image of LTTE Chief Veluppillai Prabhakaran during the observation of Maaveerar Naal
Fact: This claim is misleading. This specific celebration happened in the UK and not in Sri Lanka.
Several social media users are sharing an photograph purportedly from a Maveerar Naal celebration in Sri Lanka, where a group of people can be seen gathered around a white screen on which the image of former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is projected. The viral photograph carries a Sinhala text which translates to, “I am glad not to be one of the 69 lakhs of people who allowed this sinner’s image to be shown in public like this.”
Sharing the image on social media platform X, one user @DushanSenaratne wrote, “I truly am proud… I am not a political slave and I did not sacrifice my country.”
We came across many users sharing the same post on Facebook and X. A few can be found here and here.
What is Maveerar Naal?
The Maveerar Naal is observed to remember the disappearances and deaths of Sri Lankan Tamils caused by the Civil War and is held around November 27 every year. Since 2009, there has been controversy around events and celebrations related to Maaveerar Naal. Different governments have taken different stances on this, with some deciding that celebrations are allowed as long as they do not disrupt public peace and harmony. In 2024, the Newschecker team noted that the current government took the same stance.
On November 23, 2024, Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala made a statement that no one would be allowed to hold events using logos, uniforms or pictures of any LTTE cadres including Prabhakaran to commemorate Maaveerar Naal. In the same statement, he added that this will not in any way prevent civilians from remembering their loved ones who died as a result of the war and the ethnic conflict. Many news outlets have since then reported on various commemorative events. One article can be found here and another is linked via the YouTube video below.
Fact Check/Verification
The Newschecker team first did a reverse image search of the photograph and noticed that it was first posted by a school named Dartford Tamil Knowledge Centre in Dartford, United Kingdom, on their website and Facebook page.
The news section of the school’s website indicated that the school has been commemorating Maaveerar Naal with its student community for many years. These celebrations are of a peaceful nature, holding certain rituals of remembrance for the dead according to Hinduism and other religions practised by Sri Lankan Tamils.
In addition, the Newschecker team considered the reference to 69 lakhs of people on the graphic in Sinhala, which insinuates that such a specific number of people support celebrations of Prabhakaran happening in Sri Lanka. The figure of 69 lakhs is in reference to the number of votes former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received during the 2019 Presidential Elections. Celebrations were banned in certain districts including Mullativu and Jaffna, per the Attorney General’s guidelines in Rajapaksa’s regime, which can be found here.
Thus we find that the viral image being widely shared on social media was not taken from a Maaveerar Naal function in Sri Lanka, but from the Dartford area in the United Kingdom.
Conclusion
Thus, it is clear that the viral image claiming to show an image from a Maveerar Naal event in Sri Lanka celebrating Velupillai Prabhakaran, is misleading. Even though Maaveerar Naal was observed in Sri Lanka this year, the particular event in the image happened in the United Kingdom.
Result: Missing Context
Our Sources
The Facebook page of Dartford Tamil Knowledge Centre
The website of Dartford Tamil Knowledge Centre
News report on the ban of Maaveerar Naal celebrations, published by Lanka Sara, November 25, 2020
Statement on Maaveerar Naal celebrations by Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala, posted by News Center on YouTube, November 23, 2024
News report on Maaveerar Naal celebrations, published by the Tamil Guardian, November 27, 2024
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