Racism can't be ignored... Your Say.IT was difficult to pick out what your correspondent E Johnson was trying to say in an ill-tempered letter (Vain Protest, 02.05.09) which used demonstrations in support of the Tamils in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (srē läng`kə) [Sinhalese,=resplendent land], formerly Ceylon, ancient Taprobane, officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic (2005 est. pop. as a focus for other wider themes. One question raised was "where else in Europe could this happen?" I can answer this. It happens in Switzerland. Two years ago on holiday in the city of Fribourg we came across a demonstration in support of the Tamils. Hundreds of supporters were handing out leaflets and talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to anyone showing interest in their cause. It was entirely peaceful. I first came across the problem in Sri Lanka in 1970 when working at Lackenby for British Steel. One of my workmates was a student from Sri Lanka. We got on well until one day we entered the canteen. There was only one other person in the room. My workmate told me to tell this person to go and eat somewhere else. I refused and was then told that Sinhalese people The Sinhalese are the main ethnic group of Sri Lanka. They speak Sinhala, an Indo-European language and number approximately 15 million people with the vast majority found in Sri Lanka, while more than 300,000 live in other countries, mainly in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and would not speak directly to Tamils. I later found out that my then ex-workmate was part of the majority, ruling-class Sinhalese and the other person (also a student) was a Tamil from a poor agricultural background. Given such overt racialism ra·cial·ism n. 1. a. An emphasis on race or racial considerations, as in determining policy or interpreting events. b. Policy or practice based on racial considerations. 2. it was inevitable that armed conflict was going to break out. The Sinhalese Government embarked on a policy of ethnic cleansing ethnic cleansing The creation of an ethnically homogenous geographic area through the elimination of unwanted ethnic groups by deportation, forcible displacement, or genocide. against the Tamils. Only in Iraq have more people "disappeared" after being arrested.. To its eternal shame, our governments over the years have ignored this. Only now, after so much bloodshed, has the international community brought pressure to bear on the Sri Lankan Government. Racism is evil and must be confronted wherever and whenever it occurs. If we ignore racism, then we condone it. We condoned it when Hitler came to power and by ignoring it we only postponed the day until we had to confront it, at a much greater cost in human life and suffering than if we had acted immediately. As one of the major powers in the world, we have a duty to bring whatever pressure we can to bear on racist regimes - regardless of colour, class or religion. MIKE GODFREY, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough CAPTION(S): * ISLAND BLOODBATH: Tamils are seen with the dead bodies of their relatives at a make-shift hospital in Tamil Tiger-controlled no fire zone in Mullivaaykaal, Sri Lanka |
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