Velanai

Velanai
வேலணை
වේලනෛයි
Village
Velanai is located in Northern Province
Velanai
Velanai
Velanai is located in Sri Lanka
Velanai
Velanai
Coordinates: 9°40′0″N 79°52′0″E / 9.66667°N 79.86667°E / 9.66667; 79.86667
CountrySri Lanka
ProvinceNorthern
DistrictJaffna

Velanai (Tamil: வேலணை; Sinhala: වේලනෛයි) is a small village in Velanai Island off the coast of Jaffna Peninsula in the North of Sri Lanka.[1][2]

The majority of the people are Hindus along with a minority of Christians. There are number of Hindu temples along with few churches. The village is also served by a dozen schools. Sir Vaithilingam Duraiswamy, a well known member of parliament during the British colonial period, and his son Yogendra Duraiswamy, a Hindu activist and well known diplomat, were born in Velanai.

Since 1983, Velanai has also been the scene of violence as part of the Sri Lankan civil war including the Allaipiddy massacre.[3][4]

Also, during the civil war, Velanai housed one of the heroes' cemeteries built by the Tamil Tigers for their dead fighters in a place called Chaaddi. This cemetery was destroyed by the Sri Lankan Army in the 1990s, but then was rebuilt during the 2002 ceasefire period. However, the occupying Sri Lankan Navy once again destroyed the cemetery after the end of the civil war leaving no traces behind. This land is now occupied by John Keells, a Sinhalese-owned hotel corporate having business in the island and in the Maldives.[5]

  1. ^ "AdministrativeMap" (PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Sri Lanka. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Sri Lanka. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  2. ^ "District Secretariat Velanai". Gov of Sri Lanka. Gov of Sri Lanka.
  3. ^ K. T. Rajasingham (29 September 2001). "Sri Lanka: The Untold Story : Chapter 8: Pan Sinhalese board of ministers - A Sinhalese ploy". Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on 24 December 2001. Retrieved 1 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "Special Report No.2". University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), Sri Lanka in association with Pax Christi (an international Catholic peacemaking movement). Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  5. ^ "TamilNet: 01.07.11 Eezham Tamil coastal areas intensively encroached by Sri Lanka". TamilNet. July 1, 2011.