Harrow Tamil who burned to death in protest hoped to be the 'torch' to freedom (From Harrow Times)

Harrow Tamil who burned to death in protest hoped to be the 'torch' to freedom

1:40pm Wednesday 18th February 2009

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Murukathasan Vanakulasingam committed suicide on Friday, February 13, in a desperate attempt to draw the world's attention to the plight of his fellow Tamils in war-torn Sri Lanka.

He left a five page letter close to the spot where he set fire to himself, outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, explaining why he had decided to martyr himself.

It said: “I, Murukathasan, an innocent Tamil civilian displaced from Sri Lanka, now living in United kingdom, openly and clearly declare my last will in this statement to the International Community which failed to stop the genocide against the Tamils living in their traditional homeland (North and Eastern provinces of Sri lanka) by the chauvanist Sinhala Buddhist Govt and to wake up the heart of the world community.

“The world community which always have a one-sided unreasonable vision, about slavery, poors and the rights of the suppressed minority people living in various countries including Sri Lanka.

“This careless, undemocratic, and inhuman approach of the world community and the International Organisations including UNO always help the state terrorism which always act against the minorities of the world including Sri Lankan Tamils.

“To expose this truth, I can't find better way except sacrificing my own precious life by burning myself before the world community.

“I believe the flames over my body, heart, and soul will help the world community to have a deep human look over the great sufferings of the Sri Lankan Tamils.”

Murukathasan flew to join a protest in Switzerland on Tuesday last and never returned home to his family in Harrow.

He joined a growing list of people who have burned themselves to death in protest at the suffering of Tamils at the hands of Sri Lanka troops.

In his letter, he describes scenes he watched on television during the last few weeks of “dead bodies, blood stained streets, burnt houses, continuous movements of the displaced peoples and their feared hopeless faces.”

Murukathasan has never been political in the past, but he was moved and saddened by the suffering of Tamils in Sri Lanka. He told his mother he would not get married until his people had freedom in their own country.

At the end of his letter, he wrote: “The flames over my body will be a torch to guide you through the liberation path.

“I am too far away from you by body but I am too near to your heart.

“And so, one day the world's heart, mind, and the soul will wake up. That day we liberate ourself, our homeland, and enter into a new era.

“With much hope and confidence......”

Murukathasan's body is due to be flown home to Harrow where arrangements are underway for a funeral and memorial service, with thousands expected to attend.

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