Tonight:
4°c
Tamil protesters to target M&S over Sri Lanka links
Amar Singh and Peter Dominiczak8 Apr 2009
THE TAMIL supporters who brought chaos to Westminster are planning a series of demonstrations this summer at branches of Marks & Spencer.
Stores belonging to the British retail giant, which recently opened factories in Sri Lanka, face being blockaded by hundreds of students demanding a ceasefire in the civil war-torn country and economic embargo.
About 300 protesters were today at Parliament Square for a third day of demonstrations against the Sri Lankan government's offensive against the Tamil Tigers, a terror organisation which is banned in the UK.
Yesterday 3,500 Tamil supporters took over Parliament Square, after reports of poisonous gas attack on civilians in Sri Lanka. Seven were arrested: five over public order offences, one on suspicion of carrying the flag of a proscribed organisation, and one over drunken disorderly conduct.
The Sri Lankan government has rejected international calls for a ceasefire, claiming it is on the verge of defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels who want a separate homeland. The United Nations said 150,000 people are trapped in the civil war zone in the north of the country.
One of the organisers of yesterday's rally said: “Marks & Spencer are a disgrace. The board of directors have blood on their hands — they tacitly support the ethnic cleansing of our people.”
The plans for the summer protests have been drawn up by Tamil student groups, many at leading London universities. Their other possible targets include the Sri Lanka high commission in Bayswater and Sri Lankan airlines and travel agents. They have also called for a boycott of
tea from Ceylon.
Navarathnam Shanmuganathan, 68, of the British Tamils Forum organisation, said: “Why is Marks & Spencer doing business with a country that has been committing human rights abuses?"
Karan Murgavel, a 22 year-old student at Queen Mary and Westfield College, said: “M&S keep opening factories in Sri Lanka, it is a major boost to the government. They are not only endorsing genocide but indirectly funding it.”
