BTF London rally, vigil to mark ‘Mullivaikkal Massacre’

The British Tamil Forum (BTF) is to hold a mass rally and a vigil tomorrow in London to mark what it calls the "Mullivaikkal Massacre" six years ago, when "tens of thousands of Tamils" were killed in May 2009.

The BTF, in its website, has called on Tamils and others to join them in central London for the rally planned to be held in Whitehall Place in Northumberland Avenue, which means it will not hold the march held on some earlier occasions.

It is not stated why the BTF is not holding the march it held two years ago from Hyde Park to Waterloo Place. Nor does the announcement state whether any British MPs, or those who fell by the wayside at this month's election will address the rally.

Observers of Tamil diaspora politics here argue that the smaller than usual venue and the lack of a march suggest that the BTF, which has differences with some other diaspora groups, does not expect sufficient numbers to justify a march.

One of the MPs who lost his seat is Lee Scott, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, who was defeated, while several other Conservatives wrested constituencies from rivals in both the Labour and Lib-Dem parties. Another is Simon Hughes a senior member of the LibDems who lost his seat after 32 years, and has spoken on behalf of the Tamil diaspora at various previous gatherings.

The BTF is hoping that its rally tomorrow will "jolt the conscience of the international community which failed the Tamils in 2009, and has still not delivered us justice today."

Calling it structural genocide, which is still ongoing, the BTF, two years ago, accused the Sri Lanka military of killing "over 70,000 innocent Tamil people in just a few weeks".