Thousands of Tamils had gathered today (26th June) near Kannagi statue at Marina beach to show solidarity against the Tamil genocide in Srilanka and in remembrance of innocent Tamil victims of the 4th Eelam war. 26th June is the international day in support of victims of torture. The event was organised by ‘May17 movement’.
Tamils are the inhabitants of the Eelam land for the past 2500 years. They ruled themselves independently and on the other side, Sinhalese ruled themselves until the British invasion. Tamils and Sinhalese fought against the British rulers for a common cause. When the British left they handed over the power to the Sinhalese since they were the majority in the island. After the British oppression, the Sinhalese oppression of Tamils began. Tamils were oppressed and treated like second class citizens. Laws were enforced to stop Tamils from progressing in education and government services.
Tamils protested peacefully. For thirty years they protested this way. In response to the protests, Sinhalese carried out massacres against Tamils. LTTE gained support amongst Tamils after the 1983 riots. Tamils started believing that armed struggle is the only way for liberation after thirty years of unarmed protests. Sinhalese and British were not the same. When Gandhi went on hunger strike, British feared that something would happen to him. This was not the case with Srilanka.
India, during Indira Gandhi’s period funded, trained and armed LTTE and other armed groups fighting for Tamil Eelam. In the 1980’s under Rajiv Gandhi’s rule Indian peace keeping force was sent to Srilanka to keep peace. But they fought against LTTE and in the process, allegedly killed around 10,000 Tamil civilians, raped Tamil women and committed serious human rights violation. LTTE assassinated Rajiv Gandhi.
Eighteen years later, it is alleged that the congress government in India proxy led by Rajiv’s wife took revenge by killing 1,46,000 Tamils in the island by extending all possible support and aid to the Srilankan government. India’s role in the war is being widely criticized today. It is also being said that it is India’s war that Rajapakse carried out against LTTE and Tamils. There are reports that Rajapakse has openly spoken about this in Srilankan parliament and there has not been any refusal from India so far.
1,46,000 Tamils have been killed in the Indian subcontinent and there is no adequate media coverage except by the Tamil channels in India. The so-called national media kept quite. A few weeks ago, UK-based media house Channel 4 documented the genocide ‘killing fields in srilanka’ and screened it for top diplomats in UK and released the video across the globe. There is no coverage about this by the national media. UN expert panel has found credible evidences against Rajapakse for war crime and human rights violation. There is nothing said or written about this in Indian national media.
Tamils suffer in the hands of Sinhalese. The war has stopped. The attrocities against Tamils continue. Tamil Nadu’s newly elected CM has passed a resolution in the legislative assembly stating that Tamil Eelam is the only solution for this ethnic conflict lasting for about six decades.
Hoping that a free Eelam will be born soon and Tamils will live a life of dignity and respect in their own land.
*photo courtesy by southdreamz
-dbs
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