Minister, Toronto MPs Join Canadian Tamils in Exhibition on 1983 Black July in Sri Lanka

The exhibition chronologically highlights what organizers calls `anti-Tamil pogroms’ since 1948.

(TORONTO News East-West) - Senior Canadian politicians, including MPs, joined Tamils in remembering

Tracy MacCharles, Ontario minister of consumer
services, sharing the sorrow of the Tamil community
about the 1983 Black July riots in Sri Lanka, in
Toronto on Thursday, July 25.

the victims of the July 1983 riots in Sri Lanka – also referred to as Black July – at an exhibition at the Scarborough Civic Centre here on Thursday.

Tracy MacCharles, Ontario minister for consumer services, Craig Scott, MP for Toronto-Danforth, and John McKay, MP for Scarborough-Guildwood, joined Canadian Tamil Congress leaders and others from the Canadian Tamil community in watching the exhibition called Remembering Silent Voices.

The exhibition chronologically highlights what organizers calls `anti-Tamil pogroms’ since 1948. It brings back memories of the major riots against the Sri Lankan Tamils, beginning with the first major one in 1958 spread over many days. The minister conveyed Premier Kathleen Wynne’s sympathies for the Tamil community

A documentary on the anti-Tamil riots and the survivors was also shown on the occasion to highlight what the oraganizers said were “the government-sponsored anti-Tamil pogroms.’’

Prof Joseph Chandrakanthan and Kumar Ratnam, the two survivors of the 1983 Black July, shared their terrible experiences with the audience. Prof Chandrakanthan, a reverend from Jaffna, was the among the first few persons to reach Columbo to see the aftermath of the Black July riots which ravaged the Sri Lankan capital and the entire southern island. He spoke about his harrowing experiences.

Kumar Ratnam, who was born in Columbo, narrated his first-hand experience of the riots and the trauma in the aftermath. The event was organized by the Canadian Tamil Congress.

Genocide in Mu’l’livaaykkaal could have been averted.

Tamils in UK protested at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday. The key issues raised by protesters included calls for suspension of Sri Lanka from the commonwealth and take to action to halt land grabs by the Sri Lankan state in the Tamil homeland.

TYO-UK started their relay awareness campaign which is scheduled to end with a broad public event at Figge's Marsh in Mitchem, London. This involves youths aged 13-30 carrying a torch symbolically remembering the Tamil victims of genocide, passing through iconic London landmarks.

Protests were also held by Tamil activists in cities in Germany.

Canadian politicians conveyed their messages to the Tamils on the occasion.

Urging Canada to take firm diplomatic action against Sri Lanka and to boycott the CHOGM, Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP MP for Scarborough-Rouge River, said “Canada must take a principled stance regarding the Sri Lankan government’s continued human rights abuses and refusal to conduct an independent investigation of war crimes allegations.”

Opposition Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau said in a statement “Across our country, Tamil Canadians mourn and remember the many murders of Black July, but also the thousands of deaths that ensued in the decades-long Sri Lankan civil war, of which we still lack closure to this day. We must achieve accountability and justice for the untold innocents who died or had their lives irrevocably changed."

“To date, no serious effort has been made by the Sri Lankan government to reconcile with all actors in Sri Lankan society. There is little clarity or resolution after the end of the civil war. Ethnic and religious discrimination is growing, not decreasing," Mr. Trudeau’s statement further said.

A play by youth activists depicted the possible negative aftermaths of accepting the Provincial Council system. The play also urged the older generation to hand over the struggle to the next generation who are willing to fight from principled positions instead of accepting half-baked solutions that will only deny the youth their space to take forward the struggle.

The relay flame in memory of the victims of Black July was carried by youth activists born after 1983, from 23 July till 27 July passing through landmarks in London.

The event in Mitcham included poems, dances, plays and speeches.

Speaking at the event, Yathavi Ratnabal from TYO-UK asserted that a solution for the Eezham Tamils within a unitary state was not possible, reasoning that “pogroms and massacres from 1956 to 2009 account for the on-going systematic genocide of the Tamils by the successive Sri Lankan regimes. Post-Mullivaikaal the atrocities have not ceased instead has taken on various other forms, such as sexual abuses on Tamil women and the illegal appropriation of Tamil owned land to name a few.”

Former TNA MP for Batticaloa Mr. Jeyanandamoorthy urged the diaspora to stay strong on principled political grounds.