Fast unto death, protest demonstration, continue in London

Parameswaran Subramaniyam continues his fast unto death undettered, placing five demands including an immediate stop of the inhuman killings of innocent Tamils in Vanni by Sri Lanka armed forces.

“I will be happy to lay down my life for the sake of Tamil people,” Parameswaran said.

Protestors also continue their stance in front of the UK parliament at Westminster, having been there over three weeks, since 6 April.

The protest demonstration against the relentless attacks on the Tamils in Vanni has drawn media coverage in Britain and several countries of the world.

‘The South Korean Times’ media persons met Parameswaran and stood bearing placards with slogans against the genocide of the Tamils, in Parliament Square.

Hundreds of foreign nationals participated in the protest demonstration launched Saturday by the London branch of the International Committee against the Disappearance of Tamils in Trafalgar Square to draw the attention of the International Community to the continuing disappearance of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Tamil diaspora protestors also staged a protest in front of a Mark and Spencer establishment last Saturday distributing handbills calling the boycott of Sri Lankan produces sold in the department store.

On Monday, 27 April, some protestors went to the Sri Lankan and Indian High Commissions, where clashes with the police ensued. Early in the morning, about 300 protestors gathered at each of the High Commissions, but numbers soon swelled to the thousands, with the Times of India reporting that there were 3,000 estimated to be in front of the Indian High Commission at one stage. By 9am, windows at the Indian High Commission were damaged and 6 people had been arrested, three at each embassy.

Meanwhile, Parameswaran continues his tiring and in many ways lonely vigil. In a faint voice barely audible, 28-year-old Parameswaran, on the 20th day of his hunger strike in London said last Sunday the world is waiting for right action from the US president.

“White house said stop shelling and warned Sri Lanka that a military end of the conflict will end a unified Sri Lanka. But Colombo is air attacking. We are waiting for right action. 10,000 civilians died in three months. Thousands and thousands are suffering in the hands of the Sri Lankan military and in the refugee camps - the barbed wire camps, without international monitoring. This is clearly, without any doubt genocide… I condemn all nations for not condemning. I strongly condemn the Indian government for supporting the war in Sri Lanka”, Parameswaran said.

"I am on hunger strike. I want an answer, otherwise no one can stop me," Parameswaran told TamilNet.

The demands put forward by Parameswaran are:

·         Immediate and permanent ceasefire

·         Food and medical aid should be allowed to reach the civilians immediately with international monitoring committees and allow “Mercy Mission to Vanni”

·         UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, arrange to meet our representatives.

·         Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are our sole representatives and UK government should lift the ban on LTTE.

·         UN should call for an immediate referendum to the Tamils regarding whether they want separate nation or to remain as Sri Lanka.

Students are actively promoting the campaign by attending protests as a student group, uniting to organize an awareness week aimed to draw and educate non-Tami students. Each university also held a 24 hour fast where a rota system was maintained to facilitate students to attend the ongoing protest outside Westminster.

"This shows the third generation of Tamils is also continuing aims our elders have laid out for us," Gayathirie Sooriyacumar, a dental student born in UK, told TamilNet.

"Other young members of the Tamil Diaspora, and I, used to feel that the suffering of Tamil people in Sri Lanka seemed so far away, and so distant," Gayathirie admits.

"However, after attending this protest and speaking to fellow protesters, I now believe, I too have a responsibility to my suffering brothers and sisters in the national liberation struggle."

"I see the struggle as one that has been suppressed for long and is ready to burst. As I learn more and more about the struggle my people face, I am frustrated of how the rest of the world ignores the genocide that is happening right now in the ‘beautiful country of white sandy beaches, lush greenery, where all communities live in harmony side by side,' which is the image the Sri Lankan Government tries to project to the world. However, these protests aim to raise awareness of the truth and encourages the use of free media into the war stricken areas," she says.

The chants and slogans continue throughout the day into the night, stopping only every 3 hours for 2 minutes in order to respect and remember those suffering on the ground in Mullaiththeevu.

"This minute helps us meditate on the many innocent lives of the citizens as well as those who have sacrificed their lives in this war. The 2 minutes pause is ended by all repeating, ‘ 'Thamizharin thaakam thamizh eezhath thaayakam', meaning Tamils’ yearning is for Tamil Eelam," Gayathirie said.

"Although Parames Anna knows the consequences, he believes that he is now the British government’s responsibility. He is determined to continue his campaign for a cause, however, I can't imagine how the expatriate Tamils will respond if he carries out his threat and loses his life if the British government fails to act to intervene in the Sri Lankan conflict," Gayathirie continues.

"I support and look up to his determination, but find it difficult to watch him slip away in front of the Houses of Parliament, in the eyes of the general public and surrounding supporters, with no interference or promises made to fulfil their main requests of immediate and permanent ceasefire, food and medical aid allowed to reach the civilians and lifting the ban on LTTE."