15-05-2025
Sri Lanka protests ‘genocide monument' in Canada ahead of civil war anniversary
Sri Lanka has conveyed its 'strong objections' to the opening of a 'Tamil genocide monument' in Brampton in Ontario, Canada, saying such actions 'complicate and undermine' the government's efforts towards reconciliation and national unity.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on Wednesday summoned the Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo and conveyed the government's position on the 'unfounded genocide allegations' and the construction of such a memorial in Canada, which is home to a sizeable population of Sri Lankan Tamils who fled the island nation's long civil war.
The monument, unveiled on May 10, is dedicated to the memory of Tamils killed in the war. On May 18, 2025, Tamils in Sri Lanka and elsewhere will commemorate 16 years since the civil war's end, when tens of thousands of civilian lives were lost, including in areas declared 'no fire zones' by the Sri Lankan authorities. Families of survivors have resolutely demanded justice for the killing of civilians — 40,000 according to UN estimates — in the final battle of Mullivaikkal, in Sri Lanka's northern Mullaitivu district, and the enforced disappearance of thousands of people, including those who surrendered to the army.
Successive governments in Colombo have denied it was a 'genocide', but are yet to convincingly probe the grave rights abuses committed allegedly by the military, whose members are hailed as 'war heroes' in the island's Sinhala-majority south. In 2023, President Ranil Wickremesinghe's government 'condemned and rejected outright' the remarks of then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, marking the civil war anniversary as 'Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day'.
Responding to Minister Herath's post on X, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Jaffna MP and Leader of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF), challenged the government, and asked: 'If you truly believe that the allegations of Genocide against the Tamils by the Sri Lankan State are unfounded, then why do you demonstrate such fear at facing an international independent criminal investigation and proving the State's innocence? Why not sign up to the Rome Statute and allow the ICC to investigate?' 'The fact is, Minister, the State fears the truth! Truth is the only way to reconciliation, and your government, like the previous ones, will keep denying it,' Mr. Ponnambalam said.
Amid their enduring demands for accountability, the release of military-held lands of the people, and meaningful revival of a much-neglected local economy, Tamils of the north and east gave President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's National People's Power (NPP) a huge mandate in the November 2024 general elections, signalling hope that the left-leaning leader, who promised to change the country's political culture, would address their wide-ranging post-war concerns.
While Mr. Dissanayake has initiated the release of some land and repeatedly stated that his government will never resort to racism, many in the Tamil community are waiting to see swift and concrete action on the pledges made to them during his campaign. Weighing in on the recently held local government elections, in which Tamil parties outdid the NPP in the north and east, Tamil commentators blamed the government's inadequate action for its electoral losses in the area. They also hope that Tamils are allowed to remember their loved ones without fear or military surveillance.
According to Human rights activist Ruki Fernando, 'A good test will be to see whether the NPP is willing to mourn and grieve with Tamils on May 18, or will it triumphantly celebrate it as a military victory'.
Observing that the term 'genocide' has a specific legal definition, he said it is a matter of debate if what happened to Tamils in the last phase of the war, and since independence — 'multiple massacres, riots, colonisation of lands' —falls within the legal definition of a 'genocide'. 'Regardless of legal definitions, many in Sri Lanka believe what happened was a genocide against Tamils. A responsible government should patiently and sensitively listen to and engage with Tamil citizens on such concerns,' he added.
