Sri Lankan government summons Canadian High Commissioner over Genocide monument

by admin
Aug 19, 2024

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry had reportedly summoned the Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh to formally protest the laying of the foundation stone for the Tamil Genocide Monument at the Chinguacousy Park in Brampton, Canada on August 14.

During the meeting, Sabry had expressed "Sri Lanka’s strongest objections" to the monument, reiterating concerns by the Sri Lankan government which had been previously conveyed to Canadian authorities. During the meeting, he had mentioned that the Sri Lankan Government categorically rejects what it calls a "false narrative" of genocide. He further said that the City Council of Brampton's decision to construct the monument is offensive and that genocide allegations are based on malicious disinformation lacking any validation. 

He had also called on the government of Canada to intervene and prevent the construction of the monument, highlighting the potential damage to bilateral relations. Last week, the Sri Lankan government’s representative in Toronto has formally written to the Mayor of Brampton, in a bid to try and halt the construction of a monument dedicated to the victims of the Tamil genocide.

The letter, exclusively released by the Tamil Guardian today, was sent to Mayor Patrick Brown in May 2024, and claims that the construction of a memorial would “severely disrupt communal harmony” within Canada itself.

Thushara Rodrigo, Sri Lanka’s Consul General in Toronto, goes on to state that the memorial “conveys a deeply distorted and false message of violence”. Sri Lanka continues to deny that it committed a genocide, despite state forces having massacred tens of thousands of Tamil civilians during a massive military offensive in 2009. Hospitals were repeatedly targeted, widespread sexual violence was deployed and surrendering Tamils were executed on camera during the 2009 operations – events that have since been marked by Tamils worldwide as a genocide. Several UN reports have also documented the restrictions on food and medicine placed on entering Tamil areas during the genocide, a point that Rodrigo directly refuted.

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Amaran - Problematic propaganda

amaran

The genre of war epic makes its grand re-entry to Tamil cinema with director Rajkumar Periasamy’s sophomore feature film, ‘Amaran.’ As is often the case with this genre, one cannot help but feel the events of the ‘true story’ onscreen have been heavily modified for easy consumption.

 

 

 

The patriotic military films of Tamil cinema had taken a back seat for a while. The subject matter is now seldom a prominent theme of a film, instead lurking in the shadows peeking through such as via the heroes in the works of Nelson Dilipkumar. The genre of war epic makes its grand re-entry to Tamil cinema with director Rajkumar Periasamy’s sophomore feature film, ‘Amaran.’ As is often the case with this genre, one cannot help but feel the events of the ‘true story’ onscreen have been heavily modified for easy consumption.

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Krishna's rating: 2.5 stars

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Official trailer for film below.

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un_spcial

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