Tamils rally at Queen's Park

(By CHRIS DOUCETTE, Toronto Sun)

 Hundreds of Tamil-Canadians gathered at Queen’s Park Sunday afternoon to remember countrymen who were killed 27 years ago during Black July — a time when a wave of violence swept through Sri Lanka.

“During the riots that took place in July 1983, nearly 3,000 Tamils lost their lives, hundreds of thousands had to flee the country or became displaced, and millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed,” said Siva Vimal, of the National Council of Canadian Tamils.

He said the council was formed in the wake of the protests that swept through Toronto last year in an effort to unite Tamils across the Canada. “To date, there have been no reparations ... no apologies and no justice,” Vimal said.

Those in attendance say that hatred toward Tamils led to another wave of violence in 2009 that saw thousands more Tamils die, many of them civilians, in fighting between the Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese-led government. A recent decision by the U.N. to investigate alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka is “a step in the right direction,” he said, adding the country can’t move forward until there is “accountability.”

Although the civil war finally ended last year, the battle to rebuild has just begun, said Vimal.

He and others at Queen’s Park also demanded the Sri Lankan government do something about the thousands of Tamils who were displaced during fighting.

They also called on the Canadian government to take a more active role.

There are some 300,000 Tamils Canada, most of whom live in the GTA. Many have lost friends and family in the fighting in their homeland.

Once it was dark, the south lawn at Queen’s Park was filled with candlelight as the Tamil-Canadians continued their vigil.