Tamils protest Sri Lankan minister's visit

Tamils protest Sri Lankan minister's visit

By Jon Singer

CANBERRA — Australian Tamils and their supporters from Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney protested outside the Sri Lankan embassy and National Press Club on January 22.

About 150 protesters denounced the Sri Lankan government's genocidal "war for peace" against the Tamil people in the north and east of Sri Lanka during the visit of foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. Protesters demanded a political solution based on the principle of national self-determination.

The Sri Lankan military is bombing, arbitrarily arresting, detaining, torturing and indiscriminately killing civilian Tamils in its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The government has imposed a blockade to prevent food and medical supplies reaching Tamil areas. It has banned the media and observers from the region.

The war continues despite the government's election on a peace platform and the November 27 offer by the LTTE of negotiations for a peaceful political solution.

Protesters described Kadirgamar, a Tamil, as a liar and "Lord Haw Haw" (an English collaborator with Hitler).

From GLW issue 346