Tamils

[Tatar Khan]

Ok so Canada got a huge Tamil community living here, and well since 2006 their Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka been labeled terrorist organisation and so the Tamils here can't send money to help them like they did before.

With Indian Navy blockading them and funding cut the Tamils are now rapidly losing, so the Canadian Tamils began to protest, at first it was just whole bunch of people screaming at intersections and bus stations (something that I did not understand) than they demonstrated in downtown Toronto bringing traffic to a crawl here, than in front of Parliament (both provincial and federal), than US embassy and started to fight with police. Last time they blocked a highway for 6 hours. The police had to retreat because they could not stop them, they also again fought with them.

Now the whole protest became annoying. They are waving flags that are symbol of terrorism according to Canadian laws and getting away with it.

In the end now Canadian government is actually looking to help them. We got our foreign minsiter talking to Sri Lanka's government, we sending money there (maybe spending on our economy would be better). All this to help the group that invented the suicide bombing.

I just would like to find out what are people's opinions on this and if in their countries Tamil communities have been active.

[Caid Ivik]

Well, to help any of the factions in a civil war, which doesn't have any effect on your land, is on a similar level to direct intervention. But helping both parties (be it at once or one after another) is already a kind of greed. But from my point of view, it was a good turn. UN has chosen the side, even if it should have pushed the both parties to negotiate. It is awkward, how the countries still prefer to support governments in their attacks against their citizens after so many consecutive examples (Kosovo, Chechenya, Cchinvali, Gaza, Pashtus in Pakistan...) proved that such offensives are always more lethal for civilians than in all the years before the conflict escalates.

[Tatar Khan]

Tamil Tigers have surrendered, so the protestors can now go home nothing to protest about.

it should have pushed the both parties to negotiate.

Well I don't think they would have been successful, after 30 years of war the government was few steps away from beating the Tamils, there is no way they would have negotiated.

It is awkward, how the countries still prefer to support governments in their attacks against their citizens after so many consecutive examples (Kosovo, Chechenya, Cchinvali, Gaza, Pashtus in Pakistan...) proved that such offensives are always more lethal for civilians than in all the years before the conflict escalates.

That is very true the civilians have suffered due to both sides. Tamils have used child soldiers and civilians as shields, as well as used suicide bombers and machine guns on the Tamils that try to leave the Tigers's controlled territory. Sri Lanka's army have tortured and raped civilians as well for the reasons that they cooperated with Tigers and because they can (it is just something that armies usually do).