IT’S JUST NOT CRICKET

100,000 MARCH IN LONDON TO REMIND THE WORLD THAT THE FIGHTING IN SRI LANKA MAY BE OVER, BUT THE SUFFERING OF THE TAMIL PEOPLE CONTINUES...

After 26 years of bloodshed, violence and terror from the Sri Lankan military on one side and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) on the other, the civil war in Sri Lanka supposedly came to an end last month as the army took control of the last slither of Tiger controlled territory and paraded the dead leadership of the LTTE on television (See SchNEWS 676). According to SchNEWS’ sources on the ground, the Sinhalese areas of Sri Lanka are now being bombarded with the propaganda of victory as billboards line the streets proclaiming the great victory and forthcoming peace while “returning soldiers are given flowers in the streets”. Meanwhile, around 250,000 Tamils in the north have been confined to what are essentially prison camps, where it is claimed they face daily torture, rape and disappearances.

The massive Tamil diaspora, in Britain and around the world, are determined that the continuing plight of their people does not drop out of view following the end of the fighting. While the rolling protests of marches, blockades and hunger strikes staged in Parliament Square came to an end last Wednesday (17th), the following Saturday (20th) saw around 100,000 march through Central London. The protest was led by a mocked-up concentration camp consisting of Tamils dressed in blood-stained clothing and bandages surrounded by barbed wire, followed by a procession of people carrying photos of lost loved ones. The last month has also seen a number of protests outside cricket grounds as the Sri Lankan team competed in the 20/20 cricket world cup.

The British authorities, having completely failed to bring the Sri Lankan government to account while it was committing atrocities, has moved from indifference to irritation. While Westminster Council complained that the protests would damage the grass, which was going through “urgent reseeding”, the Deputy Mayor of London likened the Parliament Square protests to a “shanty town”. Conservative MP Gerald Howarth raised a point of order in parliament saying “It is completely outrageous that members of this House have been subjected to this inconvenience... The situation in Sri Lanka is nothing to do with this House”.

The Tamils, aware of Britain’s historical role in the conflict (See SchNEWS 665), take a different view. One campaigner was quoted as saying “Britain is to blame for this; like Palestine, like Zimbabwe, your history has a hand in the death of innocents in 2009, and the British government should stand up and take ownership of it”.

* See www.tamilsforum.com