Over 50,000 Tamils took to the streets of Toronto, Canada, on January 30 to protest against the "genocide of innocents in Sri Lanka's conflict zone."
Carrying banners, placards and shouting slogans in icy conditions, the protesters formed a human chain in downtown Toronto from 12 noon to 6 pm to highlight the "plight of innocent Tamils" at the hands of Sri Lankan forces.
Extended over many kilometres, the human chain jammed the city centre and threw traffic into chaos.
They called upon the world community to prevail upon Sri Lanka to stop the "genocide of innocent Tamils " in the name of fighting terrorism.
Sharannya Mohan looked back and forth on Front St. As far as she could see, Tamils stood shoulder to shoulder denouncing what they call genocide in Sri Lanka, reported The Star newspaper.
"We can't all be terrorists," the 21-year-old York University student said with a twisted smile.
"It's not only Tamils that should care about this," 17-year-old Phavalan Rahendram was quoted by CBC News as saying.
"This is the killing of human beings. This is a genocide."
Representing the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and various other bodies, the protesters distributed leaflets which read: "We want peace, help us," "Join us to stop the genocide," and "Then Rwanda, now Sri Lanka."
CTC spokesperson David Poopala Pillai said: "Sri Lanka was fooling the international community by talking about a political solution. They are on the path to wiping off Tamils."
He said Sri Lanka was lying to the world by saying that the retreating LTTE was targeting innocent civilians.
Thayan Raghavan Paranchothy, spokesperson for the organisers, said they had received chilling video accounts from the "conflict zone to show the barbaric treatment of Tamils" by Sri Lankan forces.
"Sri Lanka is carrying out a systematic genocide of innocent Tamils who are seeking shelter under trees. They are being lured into so-called safe zones which are then being bombed by Sri Lankan forces," he said.
"On January 26, Sri Lankan artillery bombed a so-called safe zone, killing over 300 innocents and injuring thousands. Hospitals are being bombed and the injured are dying unattended," said Paranchothy who also runs the biggest Tamil Vision International television channel in Canada.
The human chain converged on the historic Union Station before dispersing with an appeal to the world to stop "the genocide" by Sri Lanka.
The word had gone out, via Facebook, MySpace, university and high school student associations, on several Tamil radio stations, on tamilcanadian.com and websites for some of the 30 Tamil newspapers in Toronto, that only a massive turnout would get the message to Canadians about what was happening on the tiny island off the southern tip of India.
"Canadians think we all belong to the Tigers," said Milly Thangarajah, 28, who took a half-day off from her accounting job to join the throng.
"That's like saying all Caucasians are in the Ku Klux Klan. I don't even have a speeding ticket."
"The people have no access to food or shelter. Hospitals and orphanages are bombed. There is no medicine," said Supanki Kalanadan, 22, a University of Toronto graduate in teaching.
"The government won't let media in to see what they're doing. No one has been able to contact their friends or relatives to find out what's going on."
Kalanadan and Mohan left Sri Lanka as children. But the annihilation of their culture is as real to them as it is to their parents.
"This is not going to end until the government has killed every single Tamil," said Kalanadan.
"Everything will be lost, our traditions are already getting lost. How can we celebrate Diwali (the Hindu festival of light) when 20 people are dying every day?"
Dr. Pushpa Kanagaratnam, who will be part of a panel on south Asians at the Ontario Psychological Association convention next month, has spent many of her years in Toronto working with her fellow Tamils.
"The war is destroying an ethnic identity," she said told The Star. "Tamils have a collective sense of suffering. No one hasn't been touched by the war. We've known this all of our lives."
Thangarajah grew up in Sri Lanka, pleaded for her father's life as soldiers held a gun to his face. "The people are no longer normal."
Young people led the drive to organize the demonstration, said Mohan, because "we were educated in Canada. We have been very lucky to live here. We want to use our freedom here to say that Tamil rights need to be respected, too."
Sujeepan Kalanadan and Praveen Arul, both 16, were part of a silent protest at Middlefield Collegiate in Markham this week to dramatize the Sri Lankan government stranglehold on news about the war.
"There were Chinese kids who joined us," said Kalanadan. "It was good to see."
"We're out here to tell Canada to take a stance with us," said University of Toronto student Shya Theba.
"The last I heard from any of my family members was one month ago when they called for two minutes. They were telling us they didn't have any money to buy food, and if we send money there's no way it will reach them,” the Toronto Sun quoted her as saying.
"They're pretty much stranded."
Kajena Ravindra, 11, was at the protest with her entire family.
"I have to see the prime minister and I have to talk to him about this," she said, her mother looking on in tears.
"The government needs to take action. There are bombs falling on little children. They want food but they cannot afford it."
