Heartbroken' Foreign Minister and Canadian MPs condemn destruction of Mullivaikkal monument

by Viruben
Jan 8, 2021

Responding to the protests at Jaffna University,  Canada's Minister for Foreign Affairs and several MPs have condemned the destruction of a Mullivaikkal memorial, commemorating the lives lost during the Tamil liberation struggle.  

On Twitter, Canada's Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) has responded on twitter stating:

Heartbroken to hear of the destruction of the monument at #Jaffna University to Tamil civilians who died at #Mullivaikkal in 2009. Remembrance is crucial to understanding and moving toward reconciliation.

Canada’s Chief Government Whip, Mark Holland, has condemned the destruction as an attempt to erase “erase the memory of thousands of massacred Tamils”.

On Twitter he stated:

A Mullivaikkal memorial at #JaffnaUniversity was dismantled this weekend. We can never erase the memory of thousands of massacred Tamils from the world, and must never erase a genocide from global history. I condemn the actions taken and stand with the Tamil community.

— Mark Holland (@markhollandlib) January 11, 2021

Steven Del Duca, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party has similarly condemned the destruction of the monument as an "attempt to erase history".

Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough-Rouge Park,  Canada, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, has responded stating;

 

Patrick Brown, Mayor of Brampton condemned the attempt by the university administration, which was instructed by the Sri Lankan government, describing it as a form of "structural genocide".

 

Harkirat Singh, City Councillor for Brampton’s Wards 9 & 10, has also condemned the assault on the memorial stating:

 

Vijay Thanigasalam, MPP for Scarborough-Rouge Park and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, has similarly condemned the destruction of the monument stating:

 

Gurratan Singh, Member of Provincial Parliament for Brampton East, condemned the destruction of the monument, highlighted the importance to show solidarity and called on other world leaders to come out and condemn the Sri Lankan states' actions:

 

Martin Medeiros, City Councillor for Brampton’s Wards 3 & 4 and the Peel region, likened the incident to another form of genocide:

 

Doly Begum, MPP Scarborough Southwest, criticised the attack stating:

 

Ruby Sahota, MP for Brampton North, strongly criticised the destruction of the memorial monument:

Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga, has also issued a statement of solidarity with the protesters stating on Twitter:

Tonight I’m thinking of the thousands of Tamil Canadians across the GTA. I stand alongside them in condemning the destruction of the #MullivaikkalMemorial. Denying a people the right to remember their history and honour those they’ve lost is unjust and simply unacceptable.

Andrea Horwath, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and the official Opposition, criticised the destruction of the memorial monument and the erasure of the Tamil genocide:

 

John Tory, Mayor of Toronto, slammed the role of the Sri Lankan government in the destruction of the 'sacred' memorial monument:

 

Peaceful demonstrators, who had gathered in front of Jaffna university demanding to speak to the Vice-Chancellor, were met with a heavy police and STF presence.

Thus far, two students have been arrested.

The Vice-Chancellor has responded by disparaging the protesters and warning that if they did not leave, they would be "dealt with".

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