Professor Ramu Manivannan of the University of Madras said that the arson of Jaffna Library is a loss not only for the Tamil community but also for the global knowledge and culture, libraries are seen as the cultural existence of the people, burning of libraries are seen as cultural annihilation that is an important symbol of genocide in many countries on the world stage.
He further told the ‘The Quest’ website,
“The Jaffna Library is the center of Tamils, not only of existence but also of identity. The attempt by Sri Lankan chauvinism to destroy such a treasury of libraries as a wave of its opposition is a complete cultural massacre.
Basically, even the destruction of the Jaffna library should be seen as a major tool that the Sri Lankan government can use against Tamils at any time – as a sign of cultural genocide.
The writings in the libraries reflect the history of the people. Therefore, the burning of the Jaffna library is an attempt to destroy the history of the people.
Even after that, the Sri Lankan government has continued to exterminate people based on this cultural war, covering up their history and destroying historical archeology, symbols, and references since the 2009 war.
A library is a repository of historical evidence, manuscripts, and knowledge stored inside a building. But the Sri Lankan government has been working hard to destroy the historical landmarks of the community, especially since 2009.
It is our historic struggle to lose and reclaim such tremendous commitment to justice as a community subjected to cultural genocide and a genocidal community by commemorating the Jaffna Library burning day to the nations of the world.
So we are a society subjected to genocide and cultural genocide. We must continue to record that we are living in a quest for justice to recover from it ”.
