The protest by UK Tamils at Parliament Square calling for an immediate internationally monitored ceasefire is in its fourth day. During the first 24 hours the protesters occupied and blocked the Westminster Bridge.
It has now been 72 hours (as of 22.00 BST) since the protest fast began. Earlier in the day British Police threatened to forcibly remove the ‘hunger strikers’ from Parliament Square and transport them to hospital for treatment. However the two Tamil youth signed legal documents “refusing any treatment” and so even if forcibly removed medical personnel would not be able to legally treat them.
Medical authorities have stated that after 72 hours with out food or water (or any fluid) the body begins to shut down and death is a very real possibility.
In an interview with the Times (UK) (http://tinyurl.com/timesonlineuk) Parameswarn Subramaniyan stated that, "Two days ago the Sri Lankan government was bombing with poison gas, chemical gas. In that bomb, nearly my whole family - five members of my family - is dead.” In an interview with the Evening Standard (UK) (http://tinyurl.com/EveningStandardUK) he stated, “My mother, brother and sisters were killed two days ago in Vanni by the Sri Lankans, using poison gas. They say they are attacking the LTTE [the Tamil Tigers] but there have been pictures of these dead babies in the papers.”
In the same article Sivatharsan Sivakumaravel revealed that his grandmother and cousins are in the area under attack by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and he has not been able to contact them. He stated that: "I don't know what’s happened to them. Suddenly the Sri Lankan government is killing all Tamil people in what they call the 'safe zone'. They started using banned bombs and chemical weapons.”
"There is a genocide happening there, Britain knows it well. This is not against terrorism; it is a war against Tamil people. They are killing all Tamil people."
The ‘hunger strikers’ distributed the following document articulating their demands:
Sri Lanka Crisis:Action Plan Needed Immediately
1. Immediate and permanent ceasefire
2. Food and medical aid should be allowed to reach the civilians immediately with international monitoring committees and allow “Mercy Mission to Vanni”
3. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, arrange to meet our representatives.
4. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are our sole representatives and UK government should lift the ban on LTTE.
5. UN should call for an immediate referendum to the Tamils regarding whether they want separate nation or to remain as Sri Lanka
Otherwise there will be Hunger strike till we breathe our last breath
Comments (3)
Subscribe to this comment's feed...
-
- -1
-
-
Thanks