Kana Thulasigamony is getting weak and has difficulty speaking.
Along with four other Tamil supporters, the 74-year-old has been on a hunger strike at the corner of Wellington and Metcalfe streets for over five days, hoping to pressure the Canadian government to enforce an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka and allow unhindered humanitarian aid for civilians in the affected area.
“I am hopeful that I will die for the cause,” he said yesterday afternoon. “Unless they meet our demands, we are determined to continue our fast until death.”
Hundreds of Tamil supporters lined Wellington Street beating drums, chanting and calling on the Canadian government to demand a ceasefire of a civil war that has been waged on the Indian Ocean island for nearly three decades.
Thulasigamony said the Canadian government should at least send the Sri Lankan ambassador home and recall our own.
Thulasigamony’s 24-year-old grandson, Sathya Mani, said he is worried about the strikers’ well being, but said action is necessary when they are hearing reports of family members dying in Sri Lanka every day.
“Imagine what (it) would feel like if the Canadian government planned to wipe out the French community,” he said. “That’s what is happening back home.”
Dr. Ramanathon Lambothoran, a physician from Toronto, monitored the hunger strikers from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. yesterday.
