British Tamil diaspora organisations have expressed their solidarity with the North-East as it carries out a hartal today to protest the Anti-Terrorism Act and the ongoing Sinhalisation of the Tamil homeland.
In a statement, the British Tamil Conservatives, Tamil Friends of Liberal Democrats and Tamils for Labour said:
"Despite repeated calls from the international community and against numerous commitments it has made to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka continues its heavy military presence in the Tamil homeland with constant interference by security forces in civil matters and continues to use the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act to intimidate and subjugate the Tamil People in the island."
Across the North-East, businesses, schools and private bus companies have halted their operations in support of the hartal.
The hartal in the North-East coincides with the tabling of the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka's parliament today. The legislation which has been proposed to replace the notorious PTA has been criticised by Tamil politicians, civil society and human rights organisations for failing to fall in line with international human rights obligations.
The Human Rights Watch stated that the new legislation willwill give Sri Lanka's president, police, and military the power to detain people without evidence and arbitrarily ban gatherings and organisations without meaningful judicial oversight. Moreover, the legislation will expand the definition of terrorism to include crimes such as property damage, theft, or robbery, and restrict the rights to freedom of assembly and speech.
The hartal is also being carried out to oppose the ongoing Sinhala colonisation of the Tamil homeland which is being carried out with the aid of Sri Lanka's military and its archeology department. While Sri Lanka has historically used state-sponsored settlement and irrigation schemes to alter the demography of the North-East, they have intensified their efforts to block the land rights of Tamils.
