Tamil Tigers concede defeat

From Reuters:

The Tamil Tigers conceded defeat in Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war on Sunday, with some staging suicide attacks to try to repel a final assault by troops determined to annihilate them.

It is always a sad reality when lives are lost in wars, and it’s even more disheartening when countrymen are killing countrymen. I suppose in the Sri Lankan civil war, the Sinhalese are fighting the secessionist Tamils, so they technically aren’t countrymen to each other. Regardless of that small detail, it’s good to see that there is one less conflict in the world and humanitarian aid and journalists can re-enter the area and provide the help and oversight that was much needed before.

But, with any war, this civil war had a winner and a loser, and apparently the Tamil protestors in Toronto are taking “their” loss the hard way. “Protests won’t end, activist promises”.

The end of the war in Sri Lanka won’t mean the end to protests here, says a student leader who has been on the front lines in Toronto since January.

"We will still be doing our activism," vowed Kaj Thiru, the new president of the Ryerson Tamil Student Association.

"The lack of peace and justice in Sri Lanka is the main cause of the war. We’re going to remind people that it’s not over until we have that."

Growing up Tamil in Toronto, Thiru was saturated with the culture. Even in university, the music he listens to is Tamil. Until recently, all of his friends were Tamil.

There’s nothing wrong with being completely saturated in your parent’s culture, but the way the article reads, Thiru refuses to integrate. He segregates himself by only associating with anything and everything Tamil.

On a side note, up until recently I wasn’t able to describe to people what Canadian culture was. Canada’s always been known as the anti-melting pot, the multicultural country. But after spending 4 months in the UK and then 4 months in the US, I found that I missed the little things about Canada. Tim Hortons; poutine; ice hockey; and good, cheap, and multicultural food. So I guess there are many multicultural elements in what Canadian culture is, but I still think it’s distinctive.

But back to the issue at hand.

Thiru bristles that the protesters aren’t called Tamil-Canadians. "I’m as Canadian as everybody."

It’s an interesting case between what Thiru and other Canadians think about the protestors. Thiru is angry that the protestors are not being treated as Canadians when labelled as “Tamil protestors” instead of as Tamil-Canadian protestors. I’d put money down that other Canadians would be upset if the protestors were referred to as “Tamil-Canadian protestors” or “Canadian protestors”; though “Canadian protestors” would give no journalistic context.  The general feeling on thestar.com article comments is that what the protestors had done by blocking roadways and taking away the right to mobility (with or without a permit, which is unclear) is un-Canadian.

But the most striking information about this Tamil student leader who vows to not end the protests comes at the end of the article.

But his heritage was always a factor. He went to Tamil language school, joined plays and sang songs about Tamil freedom fighters.

[…]

Thiru admits to having little interest in Sri Lankan or even Tamil politics, and won’t criticize the ruthless tactics of Tamil Tigers.

"We don’t really talk about this" at Ryerson, he said.

I’m confused. What exactly is Thiru protesting? What exactly does he mean when he talks about the “lack of peace and justice in Sri Lanka”? If he has “little interest in Sri Lanka and Tamil politics”, what is he protesting? Is he just holding a flag and chanting at Queen’s Park? And for a Tamil steeped in Tamil culture but doesn’t talk about the tactics of the Tigers, what is he really doing? Talk about an identity crisis.