Ontario Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Scarborough—Rouge Park, Vijay Thanigasalam has called for the immediate release of detained Tamil hip hop artist Sangeethsan Ganeskumar, known as Hiphop Sangee, and urged Sri Lanka to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
In a statement posted on X, Thanigasalam said he was “deeply concerned” by the detention of the 24-year-old artist under the PTA.
“To imprison a young artist for his music and his Tamil identity is a direct violation of free speech and the foundation of any democracy,” he wrote.
Thanigasalam further stated that the Sri Lankan government had “repeatedly assured the global community that the PTA would be dismantled” but that it remained “an active tool of censorship and intimidation against the Tamil community”.
"Since the height of the Tamil genocide, Tamil people continue to face heavy militarization, surveillance, and structural injustice," he said, adding that the detention reinforced the importance of raising awareness through Ontario’s Tamil Genocide Education Week Act.
“Global awareness, memory and healing remain critical when basic freedoms are still being stripped away,” he said.
Vijay Thanigasalam joined human rights organisations in calling for the “immediate release” of Sangeethsan and demanded the abolition of the PTA.