I'm Andrew, a Catholic chaplain from Montreal. I would like to represent the Tamil Catholic community here in Montreal as well as the Catholic community of Sri Lanka.
When we look at the history of Sri Lanka and how the Catholics have emerged, we have to look at the background of the Portuguese and pre-Portuguese period. Before the Portuguese came, there were the Tamil kingdom and the Sinhalese kingdom. Though the Portuguese introduced Catholicism into Sri Lanka, they did not divide the rule. The Dutch period from 1656 up to the 18th century lasted for a long time. Only when the British came was it united, and they tried to rule Sri Lanka under one rule of British governance. In 1833 an administrative manager was appointed, and they tried ruling in that way up to 1948, when they gave independence to Sri Lanka.
As a Tamil from the affected area of Jaffna, my hometown of Vasavilan was badly affected due to these civil war conditions in Sri Lanka. My village was occupied by the Sri Lankan forces, and we were asked to evacuate our hometown. We moved to Jaffna, and even from there we could not hold on. The Tamils are facing repeated displacements due to the civil war conditions.
For a long historical period the Tamils have tried to tolerate the Sinhalese community. They have tried to live together peacefully, but due to political conditions, the political leaders always introduced a system to attract the votes of the majority Sinhalese when they wanted to come to power, and there were always communal riots due to this political environment.
When we look at the present situation in Sri Lanka, civilians are being killed every day, and because of the killing of civilians, even the people who have come out of Sri Lanka are being affected. My own parish members have reported to me about their relatives being killed. Even last week one family member who wanted to send some money to help his family members in Sri Lanka, who are in the affected area, could not do so because there is no immediate access to the people who are really affected.
Therefore, the problem of the Tamils has to be seen against the background of the long-evolving historical period of Sri Lanka. It has to be understood that the Tamils have to have the right to live in their own land. Their human values have to be respected. The Tamils living in the affected area are finding it difficult to come out of the area, because they feel insecure when they come out of the war-torn area. Therefore, Canadian Tamils living in this country urge this government to call for a pause in this civil war condition, an end to the war, and a taking up of peace negotiations so that the rights of the Tamils may be respected.
As an immediate measure, we propose that the war be stopped. There should be some way for the expatriates to take care of the needs of the affected people. Because of the economic blockade to the affected areas, the people do not even have enough food and medicine at present. Those needs must be met through the international NGOs, and the Tamils living in Canada are expecting the Canadian government to make an arrangement for the Tamils to help their affected kith and kin back in Sri Lanka.