Speaking at the recently held "Youth Maaveerar Naal" in London, Imperial College London student Visakan Balakumar called on his fellow university students to intensify the struggle against genocide during a speech on behalf of his university's Tamil Society.
The speech has been reproduced in full below.
"Dear ladies and gentleman. We gather here today to remember those brave souls who gave their lives. Those brave souls who gave their lives for us, for our homeland and our nation. Their selfless acts of bravery in the line of duty mark some of the greatest achievements in the history of the Eelam Tamil nation, our Eelam Tamil nation.
On battlefields across the North-East they threw themselves into enemy fire, without a thought for their own safety, to safeguard our people, our language, and our way of life. Our soldiers fought the genocidal Sri Lankan army with the prowess of a sovereign state’s military and some respite for the people of our nation was won. In the land which our heroes liberated from occupation, the Tamil nation flourished.
We established our own police forces, banks and judicial system. We stood shoulder to shoulder with the countries of the world. Since then the Tamil nation has been subjected to the most intense and indeed, continuing, part of the genocide committed by the Sinhala nation. Tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters were murdered with chemical weapons and cluster bombs by the Sri Lankan army. Those who survived were imprisoned in squalid Nazi-style concentration camps with little food or medicine and now they are being abducted, detained without charges and tortured, both violently and sexually. This is the life of the Tamil people without our brave Maveerar to protect them.
Our heroes’ guns may have been silenced, but the thirst for freedom of the Tamil nation is undiminished. As our ever adored Maveerar showed us, when we, the Eelam Tamil nation, strive for that which is most fundamental of all rights, freedom, we are capable of all manner of ingenuity and success in the face of adversity. Today, the Tamil homeland is more heavily occupied and militarised than ever. For every 10 people in the Northeast of the island of Sri Lanka, there is a Sinhala soldier. Our kith and kin are choked, unable to express their feelings. Those who speak out go missing and many have.
My fellow Eelam Tamils, I ask you today, is remembrance enough?
Even amidst the increasing military occupation, there have still been acts of defiance in our homeland, by our battered people. Almost a year to this day, some brave souls climbed a building in Jaffna and lit a fire to honour our Maveerar on last year’s Tamil national heroes’ day. As the Sinhala nation celebrated their genocidal military victory on May 18th of this year, university students in Jaffna, against the orders of the occupying Sri Lankan army, went out onto the streets to protest and mourn our dead. Small protests have been organised by the civil society, in the face of the terrible wrath of the Sri Lankan military. When our people at home, living in virtual open prisons can display this valour and dedication to our nation’s freedom, we, the Tamil diaspora, should focus our efforts to support their struggle.
There have been encouraging signs amongst the London University’s Tamil societies. After a successful campaign last year, “Breaking the Silence” has already happened at Kings, Brunel and Imperial so far this year. But when our fellow students in the Tamil homeland cannot even express themselves, the onus is on us to make them heard. The year ahead is an important one for the Tamil Eelam struggle. Our kith and kin back home are increasingly humiliated, assaulted and silenced. Our people cannot express their political aspirations.
It is up to every Tamil student and Tamil society to take it upon themselves to help recover some kind of basic rights for our brothers and sisters. Soon after May 2009 and Mullivaikal, a resolution was passed in Queen Mary university’s union, calling for a boycott of Sri Lankan products. This has since expired but we should aim to pass similar ones in unions all over London. By focussing our efforts on highlighting the genocide, we must continue to push for action on all levels.
About this time next year the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is due to be held in Sri Lanka. The Canadian and British heads of state have already expressed the possibility of boycotting the meeting if Sri Lanka’s human rights situation does not improve. Sri Lanka’s genocide of the Tamil nation will never abate. International human rights groups, including Amnesty Intl, Human Rights Watch and Intl. Crisis Group have come out calling for a venue change. By getting the support of other commonwealth societies and our respective unions and contacting the Foreign Office directly, we could make this venue change a reality. That would be a good place to start.
What we must all keep in mind is that this is not the end. Not the end of the genocide, neither the end of the struggle against it. We may take hope from the pressure that is on Sri Lanka from many angles, but we must not be complacent with our own efforts. This is our homeland, our people and our freedom, and no matter who decides to take up our cause we must always remember that the real power to effect change is with us. Thank you."
