The Sri Lankan authorities on Friday (8 January) destroyed a monument at Jaffna University that was established to pay tribute to thousands of Tamils killed by the Sri Lankan military.

The authorities reportedly deployed heavy machinery inside the campus to topple the Mullivaikal monument.

The memorial, unveiled in 2019, was designed and constructed by locals, including those who had lost family to the massacres of 2009. Tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed during the Sri Lankan military offensive, led by the Rajapaksas, reports Tamil Guardian.

According to the report, as the news of the monument destruction spread, students and locals gathered outside the university campus and started protesting.

The protesters demanded that the varsity's vice-chancellor should come out and explain to them as to why the monument was destroyed.

Protesters were reportedly chanting “military inside, students outside”, “don’t sell, don’t sell, don’t sell Tamil Eelam” and “don’t break, don’t break, don’t break the memorial monument”.

Meanwhile, Jaffna University VC slammed the protest at varsity's gates and claimed that the memorial must be taken down.

“We cannot keep these," he said, referring to the monuments.

He further said that the protesters have come because "they are over-enthusiastic".

"It is illegal for them to threaten us. If they do not go by themselves we will deal with them," he said.