Rabichanbra Karupuchamy’s uncle and aunt both died during the final weeks of the civil war in Sri Lanka.
They were both civilians.
The last Karupuchamy heard about their grandson, a young child, is that he is in a hospital somewhere in Sri Lanka, but that was four or five months ago.
“I heard from people who are friends with my family. They told me about my family’s situation,” he said.
The civil war in Sri Lanka may be over, but Karupuchamy and the thousands of Tamil supporters who gathered on Parliament Hill yesterday insist the human tragedy continues.
“Our people are still in the iron clutches of the government,” said Pon Balarajan, chairman of the Coalition to Stop the War in Sri Lanka. “There are 300,000 civilians in a big camp where there is not enough water … it’s more like a concentration camp.”
Balarajan said the camp is a massacre waiting to happen unless countries like Canada take action to demand that the United Nations take responsibility for the Tamils in the camp.
Balarajan said the Sri Lankan government is not allowing any non-governmental organization or the international media into the conflict zones.
He said they are concerned that a lot of evidence of war crimes committed during the fighting will disappear.
The Tamils are demanding the Canadian government take steps to bring Sri Lankan authorities responsible for war crimes to the International War Crimes Tribunal.
The RCMP is estimating that 3,500 people attended yesterday’s peaceful rally, which was much less than they anticipated.
