Remembering May Massacre

The Month of May

The month of May marks the first year remembrance of the Tamil genocide carried out by the Sri-Lankan Government. During this time last year, thousands of innocent Tamils were targeted and brutally massacred. Many others were forcibly displaced into overcrowded detention centers, detention centers that were run more like concentrations camps that failed to provide basic necessities of life. Today, 100,000 Tamils are still unsettled in their respective villages, and remain in these camps.

Despite the international mobilization of the Tamil Diaspora, who protested against the atrocities and called for an international intervention, the international community remained silent and allowed for countless human rights abuses to be carried out by the Sri-Lankan Government. For the next 30 days, we will be looking at the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which outlines 30 basic human rights, and see how each and every one of these rights have and are continuously violated by the Sri-Lankan Government during the Tamil Genocide.

Each day this month, we ask that you take some time out of your daily routine, and just remember, and imagine what these victims have gone through. Can you ever imagine how it feels like to have your baby being taken away from your hands, can you imagine how it feels to have your husband beaten in front of your eyes, can you imagine the pain you would endure if your wife was raped? Can you even imagine to feel the hunger of those victims who starved for days on? Can you imagine the pain of having bleeding limbs? Can you imagine the mental state of watching all your loved ones, neighbors, and friends being killed in the hundreds? Only if you can imagine the atrocities, will you be able to work towards creating a solution. During the month of May, try to remember and imagine what these victims have gone through.  

Please send us your opinions, artwork and reflections regarding the Tamil genocide to blogs@ctya.org 

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor has written in his memoir of the Holocaust, “for the dead and the living, we must bear witness. To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”

Remember. We cannot be guilty of killing them twice.

– CTYA Blogs

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