British Tamils organised a protest against the Sri Lankan Independence Day in front of the country’s High Commission in Hyde Park Gardens, London.
A large number of people gathered at the spot last Friday, despite the damp London weather, to mark the day as a “black day” for Tamils.
The protesters held flags of Tamil Eelam and shouted slogans denouncing Sri Lanka’s continued subjugation of Tamils.
“Sri Lankan government, terrorist government! Sri Lankan President, wanted for genocide!”, were some of the slogans that filled the air.
The placards drew attention to the genocide of Tamils orchestrated by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2009, who was then Defence Secretary.
“We will campaign through democratic means and appeal to the international community to secure freedom for Eelam Tamils,” said one protestor to the Tamil Guardian.
Others sensationally burned the Sri Lankan flag in protest as a mark of their rejection of the Sinhala supremacy that it is perceived to embody.
The protests in London mirrored similar ones that took place back in the Tamil homeland which also regarded the island’s independence day as a black day for Tamils.
