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London's Tamil youth celebrate city's multi-ethnic community

Members of the TYO UK raise awareness at the 2012 Come Together Rally, in celebration of London's ethnic diversity. Photographs TYO UK

 
Members of the Tamil Youth Organisation UK, (TYO UK), celebrated London's multi-cultural diversity at the 2012 Come Together Rally.

The event, endorsed by Sir Paul Mc Cartney, was held on the 4th February at Trafalgar Square.

Groups from nations across the world took part, many of them sharing their experiences of oppression, discrimination and genocide, such as a group from the British Chinese community who thanked the ‘Come Together London Rally’ supporting the "struggle for justice and freedom a genocidal state."

Jeya, a member of TYO UK, shared a deeply moving poem with the crowds, on the genocide faced by Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka to this day.

"The poem is about a Tamil person witnessing the massacre of their brothers and sisters", he told Tamil Guardian.

Raising awareness about the role of sport in holding repressive regimes to account, TYO UK members spoke to on-lookers and passersbys about the Boycott Sri Lankan Cricket campaign.

"Everyone we spoke to was really sympathetic and really keen to sign the postcards we had, asking for England to boycott the Sri Lankan cricket team", said Jeya. "They'd seen the Channel 4 Killing Fields documentary and were shocked by what they saw". 

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