Rwandans and Tamils in joint rally

Call on influential countries to end the genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka

By GEORGE KAGAME
March 03, 2009 5:15 PM
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Hundreds of members from Toronto's Rwandan community joined their Tamil colleagues in a public rally at Yonge-Dundas Square Friday, Feb. 27 .

Holding placards with messages that read, "Save the Tamils, stop the genocide," many Rwandans and Sri Lankans of varying ages called upon the United Nations to take a more active role in ending the violence in the northeastern part of Sri Lanka which, according to many Tamils interviewed at the rally, is orchestrated by the ruling government against Tamils - displacing 300,000 in the process and leading to the death of about 1,000 in the past two months.

Ahilan Ratwan, a senior official in the Toronto Tamil community, said there is no doubt the killings in Sri Lanka are a genocidal campaign organized against his community.

"We are here in the hope that the Canadian government can notice the plight of our people and help the Tamils by using its influence both in the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

He added the protests were meant to also get the attention and notice of Canadian voters who can challenge Canadian politicians to act in ending the violence in his country.

Sunny Kumarasamy a Canadian Tamil high school student in Toronto was more skeptical however; she said the current Canadian government is a very conservative one and therefore would not be concerned by the problems in other places.

"By protesting from here we are showing that the problems in Sri Lanka are also of concern for people living here in Canada. I hope that the government reacts and works with powerful countries to end the killings taking place in Sri Lanka."

Patrick Mugabo, a Rwandan protestor, said he was at the rally to lend moral support to the Tamils because it was a responsibility of all human beings to stand for peace and human rights.

"In my own country before and during 1994, we had people being killed in the thousands daily for three months because other people were not concerned about the issue. It is my responsibility to ensure such dangers in other communities are not repeated and the Tamil situation is slowly escalating to alarming situations as international agencies try to define what is taking place there."

In stating its support to Toronto's Tamil community, the Rwandese Canadian Association (RCA) noted in a communique to the press, signed by the association's director John Rukumbura, that said: "The Rwandan community strongly condemns the killing of innocent civilians in any part of this globe, while the international community shows the same old indifference, whether it is in Darfur or Sri Lanka. We cannot stand idly by and witness the tragedy that is occurring against innocent Tamils in Sri Lanka."

The Rwandans join the Tamils at a time when the University of Toronto is set to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide which claimed almost one million people in only 100 days in 1994.

The events at the university include a conference called "Remembering Rwanda 15: Lessons learned/ Not Learned" March 20-22.

The conference will feature some of the world's most renowned genocide scholars and genocide activists. Hundreds of scholars, students, teachers, members of the Rwandan community, and other members of the general public are expected to attend.

Fate and history connected Canada to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide as the only United Nations' mission in Rwanda at the time was under the command of Canadian army general Romeo Dallaire who tried to stop the genocide but was prevented from doing so by the bureaucracy of the UN.

To register for this conference, visit: www.rememberingrwanda15.webs.com

Faculty: $45.00; General Public: $30.00; Rwandan Community: $25.00; Students: $25.00.