The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Peace rally taken out for ceasefire in Sri Lanka

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Monday, Feb 23, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Peace rally taken out for ceasefire in Sri Lanka

Staff Reporter

Forum demands UN-mandated War Crimes Tribunal

— Photo: K. PICHUMANI

In unison: Participants at the peace rally by ‘Indians against Genocide’ in Chennai on Sunday.

CHENNAI: Members of ‘Indians against Genocide,’ a civil society forum, took out a peace rally here on Sunday demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

Terming as “genocide” the killing of Tamil civilians during operations carried out by the Sri Lankan army against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem (LTTE), the forum demanded the setting up of UN-mandated War Crimes Tribunal against Sri Lanka.

“The Sri Lankan Government estimates 70,000 civilians are trapped in Mullaithivu in the war zone. However, estimates provided by organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Church-affiliated groups put the number of trapped civilians at over 2 lakh persons,” forum convenor Jegath Gasper Raj said.

He added that the forum had been recently formed to raise the Sri Lankan Tamil issue in an apolitical manner and attract ordinary citizens towards the cause. Participants in the rally raised slogans demanding justice for Sri Lankan Tamil civilians and marched from the War Memorial to Periyar statue on Anna Salai. Participants in the rally included religious leaders representing various evangelist Christian churches, Muslim jamaats, Buddhist institutions and the Art of Living Foundation. Children from Rosary Matriculation HSS and Sacred Heart MHSS and members of the Youth Red Cross also participated.

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