Tamil Diaspora plans to commemorate Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day in Ottawa, Cary, cities in North America and worldwide on Sunday, May 18, 2025

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, March 28, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tamil Genocide Memorial (TGM) released a statement: Tamil Organizations in Ottawa plan to commemorate Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day at Fred G. Barrett Arena - Hall, 4310 Shoreline Dr, Gloucester, ON at 6 PM. Tamil Organizations in North Carolina plan to hold the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day event in Cary, NC, and FeTNA plan to hold the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day event virtually at 9 PM EST.

On January 26, 2025, a new Booklet Unveils a Legal Model for Recognizing Sri Lanka’s Tamil Genocide, Urges Global Action for Justice. The booklet asserts that the Sri Lankan State committed genocide against Tamils in the Vanni Region from May 2006 to May 2010, culminating in the Mullivaikkal massacre, where an estimated over 140,000 Tamils were killed. It argues that the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) systematically targeted Tamils as an ethnic group by using "No-Fire Zones" as kill boxes, employing disinformation, heavy artillery, denial of essentials like food and medicine, and “disappearing” Tamils of military-age during and after surrender into SLA custody. Drawing parallels to historical genocides, the document highlights the absence of UN oversight and Sri Lanka’s exploitation of post-9/11 counterterrorism narratives to obscure specific intent to destroy Tamils as a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, as such, in whole or in part. It calls for a holistic re-evaluation of evidence and legal approach to effectively pursue justice for Tamil genocide at the International Court of Justice.

In 2022, the Canadian Parliament recognized the Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and established May 18th of each year as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. On May 18, 2023, the Prime Minister of Canada declared the first Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day and all party leaders and parliamentarians statement also stated it. Tamils in Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu and worldwide commemorate this solemn event and continue to demand to bring the government of Sri Lanka to global court for its crimes of genocide against Tamils.

A ceremony of holding a lamp, as a symbol of Tamil resilience, will take place. Mullivaikkal Kanji will be provided as it marks a moment in the history of Tamil people who were forced to rise up and fight for justice and for a life of dignity. During the months days of the war in 2009, the Sri Lankan state weaponized food, water, aid, and access to medicines by denying the supply of these goods into the No-Fire-Zones. Kanji, a mixture of rice, salt, and water, was the only meal available to these Tamils, and only if they could find the latter, amidst the Sri Lankan army’s drone-based attacks on queues for Kanji.

On Feb 14, 2020, The United States has blacklisted Sri Lanka‘s army chief, Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, over accusations of human rights violations including extrajudicial killings during the country’s civil war. He is no longer allowed to enter the US.

On January 10, 2023, Canada imposed sanctions on former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Mahinda Rajapaksa was President, and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the defense minister, during the final onslaught of Sri Lanka’s war on Tamils in 2009. The sanction on the former presidents of Sri Lanka is another step forward.

On March 24, 2025, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on 4 individuals including General Shavendra Silva. Tamil Diaspora urges the G7 and other nations to take similar actions. Sri Lankan government continue to deny justice and the only way for justice is via the international judiciary.

On February 20, 2017, women-led families of disappeared Tamils, abducted and/or extrajudicially killed by the Sri Lankan military and state sponsored paramilitary, began protesting by the roadside in Kilinochchi to demand answers regarding the fates and locations of their loved ones. Most of their children and family members were handed over to the Sri Lankan military at the end of the war in 2009, and they still do not know the whereabouts of their family members.

The “Tamil Genocide Education Week Act,” passed by the government of Ontario, proclaims the seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 as Tamil Genocide Education Week. This acknowledgment not only seeks to honor the lives that were lost with the Tamil Genocide but also gives a sense of hope to those who have suffered life-long intergenerational trauma and represents the first step to healing and reconciliation. By recognizing the Tamil Genocide, we affirm our collective desire to maintain awareness of this genocide and other genocides to prevent such crimes from happening again.

In 2012, a United Nations panel report of the Secretary-General's Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka (https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/737299) reported war crimes and the failure of the UN in genocide investigation. The Tamil Diaspora has been calling for a Nuremberg-like Tribunal to prosecute the leadership of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) accountable for the crime of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity and also requesting Canada to help bring the Sri Lankan state to the International Court of Justice (ICJ ) for Sri Lanka’s genocide against Tamils.

In February 2015, the Northern Provincial Council in Sri Lanka passed a resolution that demanded a UN inquiry to investigate the genocide of the Tamil people by successive Sri Lankan governments.

Sri Lanka’s occupation of the Tamil homeland has led to the continuation of human rights violations against Tamil civilians. Cemeteries of Tamil war heroes have been destroyed, and commemoration events are impeded. The Sri Lankan government simultaneously builds Buddhist stupas in the Tamil homeland as part of its cultural genocide of the Tamil nation.

We urge the international community to work towards a broader recognition of the Tamil Genocide and play an active role in supporting investigations to bring the Sri Lankan state and its officials to the ICJ to dispense justice to the Eelam Tamil community.

Tamil Genocide Memorial (TGM)
a registered non-profit organization in Canada www.tamilgenocide.com

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