Boycott Sri Lankan sports, Tamils urge

New Zealand should scrap its friendly cricket tour of Sri Lanka.

Indeed, Tamil protesters are now calling for a worldwide boycott of Sri Lankan sports and products until alleged human rights abuses end.

A small group of Tamil protesters yesterday held a subdued vigil outside the Sutton Place Hotel, where New Zealand maintained a consulate facility, to protest the Blackcaps elite cricket team playing Sri Lanka’s team.

Protesters say there should be an international boycott of Sri Lanka, until at least human-rights organizations and non-governmental organizations can enter camps to ensure those displaced during the civil war are well and sent home.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which spearheaded the drive for an independent Tamil nation in northern Sri Lanka, were crushed by government troops in May. Because of its use of suicide bombers and other tactics, the Tigers were labelled a terrorist group. Nevertheless, the end of the war saw the creation of internment camps for displaced citizens.

The Blackcaps begin their matches in Sri Lanka tomorrow and stay until the end of the month.

The protesters also manned stations outside the New Zealand consulate in Vancouver and its High Commission in Ottawa.

“We’re trying to send the message out to the New Zealand government that … until Sri Lanka resolves (its issues), progressive countries should think about boycotting games with Sri Lanka,” said protest spokesman Mario Pushparatnam while on Bay St. at Wellesley St. during yesterday afternoon’s rush hour.

He said about 300,000 people were put in internment camps after the collapse of the Tigers. The government promised to have at least 80% resettled within 180 days of the war’s end, but after 60 days, Pushparatnam says only about 5,000 people have been sent home.

“People are still dying,” he claimed. “There are 1,400 deaths each week, reportedly.”

Protester Thushy Thurairatnam said he has many relatives in the camps, most around the town of Vaiviuna.

He knows he has family in Manik camp.

It’s hard dealing with it, Thurairatnam said. “I don’t know if they’re still alive.”

Although there weren’t many on Bay yesterday, Pushparatnam said it’s not a numbers game: “We just want to send a strong message.”

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VIGIL to urge cricketing bodies and nations to BOYCOTT SRI LANKA