Hundreds of thousands of Diaspora Tamils gathered in their countries of residence to protest at the killing of civilians in the Vanni and at the continuing war in which civilian hospitals and safe zones are being targeted.
In Britain, the largest ever gathering – over 100,000 people – marched through the centre of London on January 31 carrying placards calling for an end to the war and expressing their support for an independent Tamil Eelam (see separate story).
In a show of solidarity with the Northeast Tamils caught up in the war in Sri Lanka, about 45,000 Canadian Tamils people took part in the protest throughout the day on January 30, forming a human chain. There were about 30,000 people on Front St. alone, Toronto Star reported.
The large number of protesters at the Union Station, causing such an overwhelming sea of humanity that police were forced to close off the roadway for a time, City news reported
“It was an amazing sight, all the more so because it stayed so peaceful. There are probably thousands, tens of thousands of Tamils here all trying to bring some attention to their cause," confirmed CityNews reporter Francis D'Souza at the height of the madness.
"You can see them on the street corners here trying to hand out pamphlets just to let people know what they're actually talking about."
Many held up copies of photographs of children maimed and killed in the violence. Others wore armbands or carried banners denouncing the deaths of civilians in this latest bloody phase of a civil war that has gone on for a generation, the Star said.
University of Toronto graduate student Supanki Kalanadan, who helped organize the massive rally, said the only hope now is for a ceasefire.
"People have no access to food or shelter. Everyone here has someone back there who is affected," the Star quoted Ms Kalanadan as saying.
In Australia, events are occurring across Sydney and Melbourne. In Sydney, a mass hunger strike has been underway for days to highlight the unfolding humanitarian crises taking place in the North East.
Organised by members of the Tamil community, the fast transformed a Hindu temple into a temporary epicentre of angst and despair against the Sri Lankan Government’s military campaign.
“The people in the North East continue to live in fear of aerial bombing and mortar attacks on an hourly basis and still the world continues to ignore their pleas for help” said Janakan Sivaram, an active member of the Tamil youth community, who have been instrumental in the growing voices of discontent towards the lack of global condemnation towards an unfolding genocide.
“We have protested and lobbied relentlessly to bring to light the fate of the tamil people, now it has come to the stage where we are willing to go the extreme measures to make our voices heard by the Australian government and its people”.
Norwegian Tamils, spurred by the brutal attacks by the Sri Lanaka armed forces killing and maiming many innocent Tamils in Vanni, gathered unannounced in front of the Norwegian Parliament on January 31, voicing that each hour delay in stopping the war will increase the number of people killed in Vanni.
The Norwegian Tamils called on the Norwegian government to urge the Sri Lanka government to stop the war on the Tamils in Vanni in its capacity and right as the key actor in bringing peace in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Berlin Tamils engaged in a similar spontaneous demonstration in front of the Indian High Commission in Berlin January 30, demanding the Indian Government to immediately stop its assistance to Sri Lanka in killing the Tamils in Vanni.
The Berlin Tamils continued their protest demonstration shouting slogans bearing the photo of Muthukumar who laid his life in self-immolation in support of the Eelam Tamils in Chennai, for nearly 3 hours in front of the Indian High Commission in Berlin.
India too saw a number of activists take to protests and rallies, the largest of which was the funeral of Muthukumar, the Tamil Nadu journalist who self-immolated in protest at the war and at India’s silence on the matter (see separate story).
More than a 1000 Tamil activists belonging to various political organizations and social movements laid siege to the Tanjore Air Force base on January 31, violating prohibitive orders.
The activists, led by Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam President Kolathur T.S.Mani and Thamil Desiya Pothuvudamai Katchi (Tamil National Communist Party) General Secretary P. Maniarasan, were protesting against the air-force base at Thanjavur being used by the Indian Army to supply lethal and non-lethal weaponry to Sri Lanka in its genocidal war on the Tamils.
Speaking to news persons, Maniarasan charged that India's weapon supply to Colombo was routed through the Thanjavur air-force base, from where it would reach the Palali air-force base in Sri Lanka. This led to a violent confrontation between the police and the activists, media reports said. More than 1000 activists, including Kolathur Mani and Maniarasan, were arrested. 244 of them were remanded to judicial custody. Those imprisoned include women and children.
