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The “no fire zone” doctor turns up at London Tamil rally
One of the doctors who worked in Mullaitivu during the last stages of the war against the LTTE, and said to have given information to the outside world on the happenings there, was one of the main participants at the “Mullivaikkal Genocide” remembrance day last Monday in London.
Dr Thurairajah Varatharajah, a former Regional Director of Health Services in Mullaitivu and now living in the US, lit a commemorative flame in memory of the Tamils who died during the last stages of the war.
Later he addressed the rally, recalling some of the human rights and other abuses that he said occurred at the time in the ‘No Fire Zone’, the Tamil Guardian reported. The rally organised by the British Tamils Forum (BTF) began with a march from Whitehall Place, and ended close to the British PM’s official residence at No.10 Downing Street.
It was addressed by a handful of British MPs mainly from the Labour Party which was defeated at this month’s election. Among them were Joan Ryan and Siobhain Mcdonagh, long time supporters of the Tamil community.
They all expressed solidarity with what the Tamil Guardian called the “Tamil pursuit towards accountability and a political solution.” Some MPs also said they would pressure the British government to continue the call for an independent international inquiry into war crimes by the Sri Lanka authorities.
The gathering pledged to work to ensure that pressure was kept on Sri Lanka and international institutions to “help deliver justice for the massacres in Mullivaikkal”.
The Tamil Guardian and the Tamil Diplomat had what seemed like conflicting estimates on the numbers that participated in the event. While the Tamil Guardian reported that “crowds amassed to over a thousand”, the Tamil Diplomat appeared to be more liberal with numbers, saying that “Thousands of British Tamils marched in London.”
The BTF also launched on the same day a new campaign called “Are they alive?” seeking information and truth about the Tamils who have disappeared.
On the same day, remembrance events were held in Scotland, with a group holding an awareness-raising demonstration in Glasgow.