Tamils in Canada express grief over violence in Sri Lanka

The Tamil community in Toronto, Canada is concerned for the safety of internally displaced civilians caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, reports insidetoronto.com on Thursday.  The report said that a local Tamil television and radio station in Etobicoke suspended its regular programming this week to open its airwaves to “frustrated” natives of Sri Lanka in the wake of renewed violence in the island nation.

Ragavan Paranchothy, director of community development for Tamil Vision International and Canadian Tamil Radio – both based out of central Etobicoke on Rexdale Boulevard – said the Tamil community here in Toronto is concerned for the safety of internally displaced civilians caught in the crossfire between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers.

“We’ve stopped and devoted ourselves to open-line shows so people can vent their anger,” he said. “This has taken a huge psychological toll on Tamil people here. A lot still have family there and there’s no means of communication, no way for people to get in touch with their loved ones to see if they’re safe.”

Paranchothy said they’re receiving reports and footage from the northern Vanni district of Sri Lanka, where 300 civilians were reported to have been killed by government shelling there Monday in an area declared a “safety zone.”

“The reason the government is shelling Vanni is because that’s where the (Tamil) Tigers are. Under the pretext of going after the Tigers, they are killing Tamil civilians,” he alleged. “We’ve gotten a lot of footage that is just too horrible for us to watch. That footage is not being shown on mainstream media because it’s too graphic.”

Numerous protests and demonstrations have been staged in Toronto this week, including a rally at the Sri Lankan consulate on Tuesday and another at the American Embassy on Thursday. A human-chain protest at an undisclosed location downtown was scheduled for today.

Ponnudurai Srikumar, a 58-year-old Tamil resident from the Eglinton Avenue and Martin Grove area, has participated in each of the protests so far. Although he and his entire family have lived in the “peace” of Canada for 15 years, he cries when he talks of the atrocities he’s hearing about in his home country.

“It is not easy. We are humans. Our people are getting killed. Nobody is doing anything. Where is the justice?” he said between tears. “Why people are not speaking about this? The whole world is a blackout.”