100,000+ Tamil march through London protests the killing of civilians and Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Photo of Tamil Tiger leader
Since Ceylon became independent in 1948 the Sinhalese majority have marginalised and persecuted the minority Tamil population. Laws were passed to render around a million stateless (most were deported to India) and remove legal status of the Tamil language. Buddhist groups were encouraged to take part in anti-Tamil riots (the Tamils are largely Hindu and Christian, with a separate group of Muslim Tamils.) Tamils were thus further marginalised when Ceylon became the Buddhist republic of Sri Lanka. Various liberation groups, including the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) were formed and for some years the LTTE formed an effective civil government in some Tamil areas. International attempts to broker peace between the sides failed, and in 2006 the Sri Lankan government intensified its military attacks. The LTTE were forced to withdraw to a small area now under heavy attack. Tamils organised a number of well-attended marches in London against the genocide they allege is taking place in Sri Lanka as the government forces closed in on the area occupied by the LTTE and many Tamil civilians.
Size: 5040px × 3354px
Location: Embankment, London, England, UK
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: bombing, ceylon, demonstration, eelam, flags, genocide, homeland, indian, killing, lanka, lankan, leader, liberation, london, ltte, march, media, pirapaharan, prabhakaran, protest, repression, sri, tamil, tamils, tigers, velupillai, westminster
