The proposed Tamil Genocide Memorial to be built in Brampton, Canada.
The Sri Lankan government reportedly summoned the Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo over plans to construct a monument to victims of the Tamil genocide, thousands of miles away in the Canadian city of Brampton.
The final design for the Tamil Genocide Memorial was approved by the Brampton City Council earlier this year and pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils killed by the Sri Lankan state. The inspiration behind constructing the memorial in Brampton came after the Mullivaikkal memorial at Jaffna University, which was erected to honour the Tamil lives lost in the genocide, was bulldozed by Sri Lankan authorities in 2021.
News of a monument to victims of the genocide has angered Sri Lankan authorities, with the Sunday Times reporting that foreign minister Ali Sabry wrote to his counterpart in Canada and summoned Ottawa’s envoy in Colombo to convey Sri Lanka’s “serious concern”.
The Sri Lankan foreign ministry reportedly went on to express its “strongest concern” over the proposed monument.
An official was quoted by the Daily Mirror as stating “Sri Lanka had been unable to thwart the efforts by the Brampton city council to construct the monument”.
Sri Lanka continues to crack down on efforts to commemorate Tamils massacred by the state, particularly on May 18, which Tamils mark as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
