Hugh McDermott MP: State Member for Prospect – We aspire that you maintain your support for the Australian Tamil community who are attempting to receive justice for the genocide perpetrated against them by the chauvinist Sinhala Buddhist state of Sri Lanka.
MP, Hugh McDermott, the state member for Prospect, NSW, has recently expressed his condolences and solidarity with the Australian Tamil community in his acknowledgment of the Tamil genocide. His statement, however, was met with opposition from the Sinhala nationalist polity who have indulged in a hate campaign against him and his family.
As Australian citizens of Tamil heritage, we extend our sentiment of gratitude for your solidarity with our community as we’re continuously subjected to hate campaigns by the Sinhala polity who paint our quest for justice as “terrorism”. On behalf of the 50,000 strong Australian Tamil community, we thank you for refusing to adhere to the Sri Lankan government’s propagation that “Tamils are nothing more than terrorists, and terrorist sympathizers who shed crocodile tears”(Malin Abeyatunge, Melbourne author for the Sri Lanka Guardian).
The Tamil genocide didn’t commence in January 2009 as many are led to believe, it commenced immediately after the country’s independence when the Sinhala chauvinist polity began subduing its Tamil minority with its political power. As a result, the Sri Lankan government, led by the Sinhala Buddhist majority, attempted to alienate the Tamil population, physically, politically, and economically. They implemented a series of anti-Tamil legislation, hoping to deteriorate the influence of Tamils on the island. They condoned and orchestrated anti-Tamil pogroms and violently suppressed peaceful Tamil demonstrations between 1948-1983. The demand for equality, neglected by the state and opposed through genocidal means, fuelled the desire to flee the island and receive asylum in Australia. During the war, the Sri Lankan Army pioneered the use of rape, torture, kidnappings, indiscriminate firing, shelling, and bombings against innocent Tamil men, women, and children, resulting in the deaths of 150,000 to 200,000 innocent Tamil civilians(At least, 75,000 of which, were killed between March 28th – May 18th, 2009, when the Sri Lankan army forced 300,000+ Tamils to take refuge in internationally recognized “NO FIRE ZONES” and then proceeded to shell them with artillery and other heavy weaponry.
The genocide has been officially recognized in the Canadian province of Ontario, who have recently passed Bill 104, “Tamil Genocide Education Week”, where, between May 11th – 18th, Canadian students(Grade 1 – 12) annually learn about the genocide that was perpetrated by the Sri Lankan state against its Tamil population. Leaders in Canada, UK, US, India, and etc, have acknowledged the genocide and have displayed solidarity with their Tamil communities. As such, we aspire that you maintain your solidarity, and future MP’s follow in your footsteps.
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