Remembering the massacre at Mullivaikal in May 2009, Canadian Tamil youth held a “Tamil Uprising Day” in Ontario earlier this week, marking the occasion as a symbol of protest.

The rally, held near the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Queen’s Park, saw performances and speeches from the Tamil Youth Organisation of Canada and Tamil Student Associations members.

Speeches were also given by Safiyah Husein, the Vice-President Equity of the York Federation of Students and James Clarke from the Canadian Peace Alliance, Canada’s largest peace organization.

Also speaking at the event was the newly elected President of Ontario New Democratic Party, Neethan Shan and Krisna Saravanamuttu, spokesperson of the National Council of Canadian Tamils and Ontario Representative on the National Executive of the Canadian Federation of Students.

See the report from TamilNet here.

L Baskanthan, the President of the Tamil Students’ Association at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus,

“As students it is our moral obligation to pick up from where our heroes left off and to advocate for the Tamil community’s right to self-determination at our respective educational institutes.”

Vijay Thani from TYO, also stated,

"We should never forget the genocide perpetrated by the Sinhala state on the Tamils.  When we come together to remember and commemorate our people, we should also take a vow that until Tamil Eelam is free we will not rest.”