We are all Tamil

If you are in Canada, take a minute right now and email your MP to ask him or her to support the demand that Canada use its influence to pressure the Sri Lankan government to call an immediate ceasefire and stop the slaughter of Tamil civilians.

The 200,0000 strong Tamil community in Toronto has been organizing an escalating series of massive non-violent protests in Toronto and Ottawa over the last few months to demand that the Canadian and U.S. governments intervene to pressure the Sri Lankan government to stop killing Tamil civilians and order a ceasefire, At the end of April, they had a mass occupation in front of the US Consulate blocking one of the major streets in downtown Toronto. An estimated 2,000 climbed the on ramp on to the Gardiner Expressway, one of the busiest highways in Toronto, and sat down blockading traffic for several hours pm Sunday evening in response to reports of a massive slaughter of Tamil civilians that have been coming out over the week end. Frustrated at the silence of the federal government despite the largest demonstrations we ever have seen in this country, and desperate to save the lives of family and friends back home, a group of Tamil activists decided to lead a creative act of civil disobedience.

While drivers returning to the city from a week end away were no doubt frustrated, this action drew more attention to the Tamil cause than even the magnificent human chain where more than 150,000 people filled the sidewalks from Union Station to Bloor Street. Finally, the Tamil struggle is on the front page and lead story of every media outlet in the country. Bravo to these brave, articulate, effective activists. I've never seen a better organized protest.

On the week-end there had been a massive demonstration called by the Canadian Peace Alliance and some unions to support the Tamil. It was the first major show of non-Tamil support for this struggle after months of demonstrations. I have been part of a group called Canadian Academics for Tamil Rights that formed a couple of weeks ago and issues a statement supporting an immediate ceasefire and defense of the rights of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.

It has taken a while for non-Tamil support to build because of the confusion about the role of the Tamil Tigers. The discourse on the war on terror has allowed governments like ours to ignore massive slaughter of civilians by oppressive states in the name of fighting terrorism. Moreover the Tamil Tigers have committed atrocities. But whatever our concerns about the Tigers it is critical to separate the human rights issues from the political ones.

As we say in our statement:

line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The overall human rights situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated dramatically since the current government assumed power in 2006. The Sri Lankan government has utilized the “war on Terror” as a cover to systematically destroy all democratic processes and institutions. Sri Lanka was ranked 165th out of 173 countries in the ‘Reporters Without Borders’ 2008 press freedom index, the lowest ranking of any democratic country. Political opponents and journalists with critical views are subject to threats, intimidation and assassination. The culture of impunity has been institutionalized. In an effort to shield its own actions from public scrutiny, the Sri Lankan government has barred most humanitarian agencies, independent observers and journalists from the conflict zones. As a result there is a lack of timely information about the situation of the trapped civilians as well as severe shortfalls in humanitarian assistance.

We have a special responsibility to mobilize support for the Tamil community in Canada as they are the largest Tamil diaspora in the world. Moreover, we can learn from the Tamil activists who have be organizing for months, escalating their tactics in face of silence from the government. First they organized protests on the sidewalk in Toronto, where most of them live, then they took their protest to Ottawa, where they had thousands of people on the Hill for days. Finally when they agreed to take down their flags only Jack Layton , leader of the left of centre New Democratic Party spoke in support. When that didn't get more of an impact they sat down in front of the US Consulate for an entire week . That's when they started getting more attention from the media, from other community organizations and from some politicians.

Yesterday I was assisting at a Q and A for Velcrow Ripper's fantastic film about combining spirit and activism Fierce Light opening in theatres on May 15, and someone asked, "What can we do in Canada, where people are so complacent" I pointed out that at that very moment there were people demonstrating at Queen's Park to stop a genocide in Sri Lanka and he could join them. Over the last year, we have seen massive protests by Tamils, Palestinians and Burmese. The 20th anniversary of the massacre at Tienamen Square in coming up on June 4. Unlike when I was young and demonstrating against the war in VietNam, today the people from the conflict regions of the world are our neighbours. Their struggle is our struggle. Talking about the global village may be a cliche but the global city is a reality and Toronto is in the forefront. We are all Tamils.