As Sri Lanka gets ready to celebrate the first anniversary of the military defeat of the LTTE and the end of the three decade-long war on terrorism, the pro LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party yesterday called on the Tamil people to mourn and hold silent prayers on the morning of May 17 to mark what it called a day of "catastrophe".<br/><br/>In a joint statement signed by all the 14 TNA MPs recently elected , it said that this "catastrophe is one of the worst in world history as during the height of the war, several thousand Tamil people were killed and hundreds of thousand others suffered heavy losses and were forced to flee their homes.<br/><br/>Therefore, we request all Tamil people to annually observe a day of mourning to remember this great tragedy. This year we request that all Tamil people and religious leaders engage in silent prayers on the morning of May 17′.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order declared May 12 to May 18 as the Hero’s Week , to commemorate the war heroes . The main event of the defeat of terrorism will be celebrated on 20th of this month.