As Tamils handed out flyers on the upcoming Genocide commemorations at an anti-Sri Lankan government protest in Australia, they were harassed and subjected to racist abuse with at least one man tearing up their flyers – all of which was caught on camera this week.
Spokesperson and founder of the Tamil Refugee Council Australia, Aran Mylvaganam, was invited to speak at the rally in Melbourne (Naarm) this week. But as members of the TRC handed out flyers to the hundreds of largely Sinhalese in attendance at the rally, they were subjected to harassment.
“One person ripped the flyer, with a photo of the 2009 Mullivaikkal massacre, on camera and spouted racist nonsense,” said the TRC on Instagram. “Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism has great purchase here.”
“A Singhalese comrade, proud unionist and anti-chauvinist, tried to communicate our points but the crowd was against us,” the TRC continued.
“Someone in their group said 'do not address the history' but for Eelam Tamils it is crucial. "Racial harmony", as some centrists have coined, can only come if there's an acknowledgement of genocide and commitment to righting the wrong. Not with mob violence.”
Despite the Tami Refugee Council coming under harassment, Australian police forced them to leave “instead of stopping the attackers”.
“Victoria Police are complicit in so many horrors - First Nations genocide, murders, land theft, and destruction of Country; deporting refugees, attacking human rights advocates, sexual assaults, murders, cops investigate cops so there is open collusion.”
The incident in Australia comes as protests by the Sinhala diaspora against the ruling Rajapaksa regime continue around the world.