The Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) Canada and twelve Tamil Students' Associations have strongly condemned the arrest and detention of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar, known professionally as Hiphop Sangee, under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
In a joint statement issued on 5 June, the organisations described the arrest as "a direct, aggressive assault on the fundamental rights to free speech and freedom of expression for Eelam Tamil artists, and a calculated attempt by the Sri Lankan state to systematically erase Tamil cultural identity and historical memory."
Sangeethsan, a 24-year-old resident of Kilinochchi, was arrested after uploading a video to TikTok that featured his original rap music overlaid on footage from a temple festival performance. Sri Lankan authorities alleged the video "supported or glorified" the liberation struggle and used Section 03(g) of the PTA to remand him in custody.
The organisations situated the arrest within a broader pattern of state repression against Tamil artists and cultural expression. The week before Sangeethsan's arrest, occupying police forces interrupted a musical event in Urumpirai, Jaffna, and summoned the son of the late Tamil musician S. G. Santhan for questioning over Tamil homeland-themed songs.
"By criminalizing music, poetry, and digital art, the Sri Lankan state seeks to censor the lived experiences of Tamils impacted by the genocide, criminalize their collective grief, and deny them the right to articulate their identity," the statement read.
The organisations called on the international community, including the Government of Canada, international human rights organisations and global artistic networks, to demand Sangeethsan's immediate release, pressure the Sri Lankan government to permanently repeal the PTA, recognise what they described as the "ongoing structural genocide and human rights abuses in Tamil Eelam," and acknowledge the right to self-determination of the Tamil people.
The statement drew a direct line between the arrest and the conditions facing Tamils across the North-East since the end of the war, stating that since the height of the Tamil genocide in May 2009, "the Sri Lankan state's heavily militarized security and intelligence apparatus has subjected the Tamil homeland in the North-East to intense surveillance, harassment, and intimidation."
The joint statement was signed by the Tamil Youth Organization Canada alongside the Tamil Students' Associations of Brock University, McMaster University, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Guelph, the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto Mississauga, the University of Toronto Scarborough, the University of Toronto St. George campus, the University of Waterloo, Western University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and York University.
Read the full statement here.