Despite being a Sinhalese by birth, he was a noble man who loved people as human beings

Activist
Despite being a Sinhalese by birth, he was a noble man who loved people as human beings

Viraj Mendis

Despite being a Sinhalese by birth, he was a noble man who loved people as human beings with his broad mind, respected human rights and dedicated his life for the rights of Tamil people. The news of the death of Viraj Mendis is shocking. He was a highly academician who was persecuted by the Sri Lankan and British governments as a human being should not be treated in his own life. Viraj Mendis was made stateless by the Sri Lankan Sinhalese government and was brutally treated and deported by the British government.

Viraj Mendis has been seeking asylum in Germany and Bahrain and has been fighting for Tamils and human rights. He has been working in many pioneering activities to investigate the genocide of Tamils in the international arena. Viraj Mendis, a great man, has been active in holding and refereeing the First People’s Tribunal sessions for the Tamil Genocide, taking as an example the People’s Tribunals which were the starting point for the international investigation of the genocide in the past. When a thought arises that we cannot see all the Sinhalese on the same scale, Viraj Mendis, a noble man who lived for the sake of Tamils, comes to our mind first.

Viraj Mendis had a good soulful relationship with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was the driving force behind the liberation struggle of Tamil Eelam. Viraj Mendis had become a fighter rather than having worked with their senior commander Kiddu during their days in international missions and had been transformed as a Tamil. Even though the end of human life, death, has silenced this noble man, we offer our thanks and tears from our eyes with the confidence that we will continue to pursue his dreams.

Dr. N. Malathy