SANSAD Public Forum
Sunday, May 24, 2009 2-5 p.m.
Cafe Kathmandu
2779 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Discussants:
C. Premarajah, Hari Sharma, L. Pathmayohan, Raj Chouhan (MLA), and Peter Julian (MP)
Please note that we also plan to use the forum for raising funds for humanitarian relief for the Tamil victims of the military assaults.
Tamils in Sri Lanka have, over the decades, been systematically deprived of their rights and reduced to second class citizenship. Now this minority is facing genocidal violence as the government pursues its military solution to the insurgency led by the LTTE.
Rejecting international appeals for ceasefire and access of relief agencies to the civilians trapped in the war zone and in camps, the Sri Lanka government has continued its bombardment, including rocket attacks on makeshift hospitals in the “no fire” zones that have killed hundreds of patients. Over 6500 innocent civilians have been killed and more than 11000 injured. There are no figures for those who have disappeared and those who have been buried in mass graves in Vannu. There are over 300,000 internally displaced people (IDP). About 185,000 are in camps without basic necessities.
This genocidal violence must be stopped. The murder, imprisonment, and intimidation of journalists daring to report on the situation must be stopped. We must support the Tamil diaspora in Canada in their effort to provide humanitarian relief for the victims of war in Sri Lanka.
As the Sri Lanka government reaches the stage where they are getting ready to declare a total victory over the Tamil enclaves, it is very important that the issues that led to Tamil militancy and civil war are sufficiently addressed, and that the government follows policies to ensure justice for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. This is also the responsibility of the international community.
Please join us at the public forum, and please help us raise funds for humanitarian relief.