Chanting “Stop the genocide,” about 100 Sri Lankan-Canadians marched through Halifax Saturday, slamming Sri Lanka’s actions in the Tamil region of that country.
“The Sri Lankan government claims that it is engaged in a military battle with the Tamil Tigers through this offensive. What they are really doing is annihilating innocent Tamil civilians,” said David Poopalapillai, national spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress. “The conditions of civilians trapped in the war zone are deplorable, as they have no access to basic necessities such as shelter food clean water and medicine.”
The march was held to raise awareness and encourage Canadians to write their MPs, pressing our government to push the Sri Lankan government toward peace.
“We want this to stop. We want our government to use its good influences to stop this war,” Poopalapillai said. He added that the Sri Lankan government is using “war on terror” propaganda as cover for its actions.
He said Tamils have been persecuted in Sri Lanka since independence in 1948. The country has been dogged by civil war since the 1980s as the rebel Tamil Tigers clash with government forces.
