Remembrance Day (Sinhala: ජාතික රණවිරු සැමරුම් උළෙල Jāthika Raṇaviru Sæmarum Uḷela), also known as National War Heroes Commemoration Day, is a memorial day observed in Sri Lanka since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, which is observed to commemorate the war heroes which fought in the war and the civilians who were killed in the war from both sides. Remembrance Day is observed on 19 May, which marks the decisive victory of the Sri Lankan Army against the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, on 18 May 2009.
Celebrations are marked by speeches and a moment of silence. Initially, under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the day was known as Victory Day and included a military parade, but in 2015 was renamed Remembrance Day by President Maithripala Sirisena. History The Sri Lankan Separatists War was an armed conflict fought between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the Government of Sri Lanka, after the prelude of the Sri Lankan civil war between the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam and Government of Sri Lanka, as the conflict came to an end with the Indo-Lanka accord (1987), where the armed groups made peace and they stopped fighting with the government in the late 1980s to early 1990s by aligning with the state. However, the radical extremist organisation LTTE was formed in demanding a sperate state, which emerged as the dominant armed force among extremist Tamil militants and transformed the struggle into a more organised and intense civil war, pursuing an armed campaign for a separate state. The 26-year conflict came to an end on 18 May 2009, with the total military defeat of the LTTE, and thus the day was marked as a day of celebration across the island.
Celebrations of the first anniversary were presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose government was in power when the war ended. The celebrations were commemorated as Victory Day, a celebration of the triumph of the Armed Forces against terrorism in the country, and continued under the same name until 2015. Rajapaksa's successor, President Maithripala Sirisena renamed the day to Remembrance Day and moved the date to 19 May to "mark the sacrifices made by all those, who irrespective of their ethnicity, safeguarded the unity and territorial integrity of the country". The day also recognises all civilians who died in the war. The day is a step towards reconciliation between all ethnic communities of the country.
Commemorations for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are not permitted.
Anniversaries Date held Location Presided by 1st 18 June 2010 Galle Face Green, Colombo Mahinda Rajapaksa 2nd 27 May 2011 3rd 19 May 2012 4th 18 May 2013 5th 18 May 2014 Matara 6th 19 May 2015 Maithripala Sirisena 7th 18 May 2016 National War Memorial Battaramulla, Colombo 8th 19 May 2017 9th 19 May 2018 10th 19 May 2019 11th 19 May 2020 Gotabaya Rajapaksa 12th 19 May 2021 13th 19 May 2022 14th 19 May 2023 Ranil Wickremesinghe 15th 19 May 2024 16th 19 May 2025 Anura Kumara Dissanayake 17th 19 May 2026
See also National War Memorial, Colombo Cenotaph War Memorial, Colombo Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day
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