This Tamil Memorial Tree was planted in memory of the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed in Mullivaaykkaal, Sri Lanka in May 2009.

Thank You Bolingbrook Park District

S.Skanthakumar on behalf of the Illinois Tamil Human Rights Group.

Background

There was a civil war in Sri Lanka, which went on for more than 25 years and finally ended with a tragedy of tens of thousands of defenseless Tamil civilians, children, women & men, being killed in May of 2009, in the tiny village of Mullivaaykkaal in Sri Lanka. In this modern era, with limitless and rapid flow of information, we just could witness, but not prevent this tragedy from happening. As civilized humans, let us take a vow that, in the future, we never will silently watch another tragedy like this, in any part of the world. This tragedy affected all of us and we want our future generations to remember the innocent Tamil victims, and pay their respects to the lost souls, for very many decades to come.

Although we are involved in various activities such as memorial services, feed homeless etc. during the month of May every year to remember the victims, we wanted something more commemorative for this purpose. While looking for ideas, we were glad to learn that the Bolingbrook Park District (BPD), in Illinois, has a memorial tree program (similar programs are available in many other cities, around the globe). Initially, we wanted to plant the memorial tree on the second anniversary of the tragedy, in May 2011. However it took several months to clearly express our intentions to BPD and to negotiate on the statement to be put on the plaque, which was agreeable to everyone. Since, in the twenty year long history of the memorial tree program, BPD never received a request similar to this, we had to put a lot of efforts to make the authorities to understand our true intentions. BPD finally understood the fundamentals and tried their level best to accommodate our request. Due to the incredible efforts by BPD commissioners and staff, we now have a living memorial for the innocent Tamil victims who perished in the bloody war.

Tree and Location

Once we all agreed on a concept, then it was important to select a tree and location. There were 38 different parks and 28 different types of trees available at BPD. With the help of the Horticulturist of BPD and viewing various locations, we decided on a Bur Oak tree to be planted at BRAC center. Our main criteria were that the tree (1) shall represent many who died, (2) in a peaceful environment.

• 1. Bur Oak tree will adapt easily to this area, as it is native to the Midwest region. Although BPD gives guarantee for only 20 years, in reality, Bur Oaks can last for more than 100 years. Therefore this tree will give the opportunity for many generations to visit and pay their respect. Initial growth is slow but eventually it can grow up to 80 feet high and 50 feet wide. These wide spread branches and leaves will nicely symbolize the tens of thousands people died.

  2. The location is near a lake, which gives a peaceful atmosphere which will symbolize a final resting place for the perished souls. It also will give us a satisfaction that souls of tens of thousands innocent Tamils, whose lives were violently taken away, now can rest in peace.

We hope that all of you will get a chance to visit the site and write your comments about your experience on this website. We intend to keep everyone’s comments for a very long time for future generations to view.

We hope that this type of TRAGEDY will NEVER happen AGAIN, to any community, in any part of the world, in the future.

If you would like to receive more information about human rights violations in Sri Lanka, please join our group mailing list [click here to join].

This website is maintained by Illinois Tamil Human Rights Group (ITHRG).