Interview with Canadian Tamil Congress media team at the CTC Center, Scarborough, TGA, Ontario, Canada.
Shira Pinczuk Viola
Toronto, 24 May 2009
On 10th of May a massive rally paralyzed Toronto city centre. The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), and organizations like “No to Sri Lanka”, with most of the Tamil Canadian community poured into the street to protest against the ongoing slaughter of Sri Lanka Tamils by the Sri Lanka government army.”Stop the genocide” echoed at every corner.A week later, on may the 18th, in the mist of the street protest, the Sri Lanka government proudly announced the end of the war. Rumors emerged that the leader of the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan (LTTE) had been killed in action.
On the same day I met the spokesman of CTC, David Poopalapillai at the CTC Centre in Scarborough.
This is the report of that encounter.
SP – President Rajapakse announced today the victory of the Sri Lanka army over the LTTE. The corpses of the main men in LTTE, including the leader Velupillai Prabhakaran are being identified as we speak. How do you feel today?
DP – They claim their victory over this military operation. But we, Tamil Canadians, Tamil Diaspora and the brothers and sisters in our homeland strongly feel that the war against Tamils is continuing, ferociously there. They are committing horrendous crimes against Tamil civilians, war crimes. But finally the war crimes have come to light.
SP – Does this mean that the Tamil’s war will continue?
DP – The war is against the Tamils! This is not the Tamil’s war. It is a struggle for equality, fairness, freedom, and justice. A struggle for homeland. This struggle will continue because there is no other answer.
SP – What about the announcement that the LTTE main men are dead?
DP – It is still unconfirmed. This news came through Sri Lankan media We are still waiting for independent verification from accredited media like BBC or CBC or other outside media.
SP – What is CTC?
DP – It is a Canadian organization. Though we are focusing on our homeland struggle right now, we also focus on what happens here. In that we are a typical Canadian organization. Our mandate is huge: we make sure that our voices are properly being heard in the political and media arena. We work to empower our community, to integrate it in the greater Canadian society.
SP – How do you keep in touch with Sri Lanka?
DP – Most of our members visited Sri Lanka during the Tsunami: medical doctors, educators and different professionals went there to offer their services. But since the war broke out in full gear, none of us has been able to visit the area. Last time we were there was in 2005-2006.
SP – What are your sources of information today?
DP – We are connected through the internet and our families. It’s a small area and Tamils have sizeable media based in that area.
SP – Are you in contact with politicians? Army officers?
DP – No, there are no Tamil army officers: 99% of the army in Sri Lanka is Sinhalese. However, there are some democratically elected Tamil civil servants; we keep in touch with them.
SP – Why did you decide to engage the public with these large rallies? How did you raise your community?
DP – Tamils citizens are a tightly connected group within the larger community. When injustice is committed against your own brothers and sisters in other parts of the world it is natural for the community to go on the street, it is solidarity. I will give you an example: during the Israeli- Gaza conflict last year a lot of Jews went on the streets. Some of the Jews here have no relatives in Israel they have been here for generations and still they went in the streets. Same deal!
SP – In any case, many of the protesters are women, children, elderly people.
DP – They strongly feel the community has been slaughtered in that part of the world; they want to stop the slaughter. We didn’t force them: everybody just went there, everybody chose to be there.
SP – LTTE is listed as terroristic organization in 31 countries, including Canada. What do you reply to this?
DP – Yes. All around the world, when it comes to liberation movements they have been branded as terrorists. Menachem Begin and Ben- Gurion, were branded as terrorists. Nelson Mandela was branded as a terrorist. I am not trying to bring everybody in the same basket but I tell you this: have the Tigers done mistakes in the past? Of course! But the Tamil community looks at them as those who have been fighting for them- for their brothers and sisters. They have done mistakes but it’s very unfortunate the present world has branded them as terrorists.
SP – LTTE is held responsible for the killing of India’s Prime Minister and the President of Sri Lanka. This organization has killed many Sri Lanka citizens. But there have been at least two occasions to sit at the table and negotiate a solution…
DP – Yes, and they did sit at the table…. When they signed the cease- fire in 2002, LTTE actually came up with a document called:” Interim Self Government Authority” (ISGA). The Government of Canada was asked to pass it on to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to start the talks, but it refused. So, whose fault is that?
Then when the Tsunami happened, the Government took the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) – which was supposed to ensure that delivery of the rescue funds remained fair – to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court “killed it”. The truth is that GOSL considers Tamils as second class citizens.
SP – It has been alleged that donations from Tamil overseas communities have been fueling LTTE’s military actions.
DP –.That was old days…since 2006 when the Canadian Government banned LTTE fund rising has been discontinued, is finished! Tamil Canadians are law-abiding citizens, and we don’t think they need to break the law. If anybody is doing it now, why the Police don’t investigate and take appropriate measures?
SP – So, how does LTTE keep fighting?
DP – LTTE has a system in its own country. They rule a mini-state: they collect taxes from their people. And also they claim that through battle LTTE got control over very high quality weapons of the Sri Lanka military, Soldiers of the regular army often abandoned their camp, in the thousands ran for their lives. All these tanks and heavy weapons were taken by LTTE.
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