Protesters demand end to civilian killings

BY SHANT FABRICATORIAN
A recent multi-day protest in Martin Place has helped focus the attention of city-dwellers on the plight of civilians trapped in the Sri Lankan conflict. The protest, organised by the Australian Tamil Students, called on the Australian government to condemn attacks on civilian populations and to support calls for a ceasefire.

The war between the government and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka has been going for over 35 years, with foreign media barred from covering the conflict.

Recently, the former US Deputy Associate Attorney General, Bruce Fein, described the attacks by government forces ‘a clear-cut case of genocide’.

The Australian government, along with the European Union, the United States, India and Canada, has dubbed the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organisation.

But protester Myuran Elango said to properly understand the conflict it was necessary to view the fighting against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s history since independence in 1947.

‘The conflict desensitises the world,’ he said. ‘People perceive it as being a war on evil and oppression, when in fact the government is causing that oppression in the first place.’

Elango noted that the 1958 Sinhala Only Act – which mandated Sinhala as the country’s only recognised language – and the removal in 1979 of a clause that protected the rights of minorities, were crucial points in ‘an ongoing process to assimilate minority groups’.

Fellow protester Jana Siva said the broader issue underpinning the conflict was the right to self-determination. ‘From this protest, we’re looking to stop the killing of the Tamil civilians and start peace talks,’ he said.

Most analysts agree a political solution will need to be brokered between the country’s majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils to ensure a lasting peace. But as government troops close in the last remaining Tigers’ stronghold, any agreement looks a distant possibility.