Last Monday, a friend of mine called me to say there was a protest going on outside Parliament. "Thousands of Tamils are here", he urged. Intrigued by how this had happened considering it is now illegal to demonstrate within a 1km zone of Parliament Square under section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, I headed down.

Upon arrival at Westminster, I was met by a deafening roar of people shouting "cease fire", and was soon immersed in a sea of red flags. The demonstration, I learnt, was about the ongoing struggle between the Sri Lankan government and the 'rebel' Tamil Tigers group. It was interesting to see a large number of flags bearing the symbol representative of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). Technically, to own one or display one of these flags is illegal as they carry imagery representing a 'proscribed organisation' and are thus in breach of anti-terrorism laws. The phrase 'one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter' sprang to mind.

Having spent a chunk of early April 'G20-ing it up', I was impressed by the atmosphere I found at Westminster. People were chanting and waving flags, families had pitched up tents and chairs, and there was drumming and singing. People were coming around offering snacks, and everyone I encountered was really friendly, willing to explain to me (a minority white person) their reason for protesting. I heard about the tense situation in Sri Lanka and the amount of civilians affected and killed.

I heard that although the people protesting know the Government have nothing to do with the conflicts in Sri Lanka, they regard themselves as British citizens, so feel their only option to bring attention to their cause and potentially help friends and family 'back home' is to protest and ask the Prime Minister to take their cause to the UN.

"1500 people have been killed over the weekend. It's genocide," one man explained. "We want a ceasefire so aid can reach the thousands of people caught up in the middle of the fighting. The only media is state media, we have no way of knowing what is really going on."

As I left at around midnight, more police were being deployed into the area. Westminster Bridge had just been closed to any more protesters, despite people still arriving for an all night vigil. Police refused to let them have access to other protesters, and were told to 'use another bridge'. The police must have known that all access to Parliament Square from other directions was impossible, so were effectively sending people in meaningless, impossible circles. 

A considerable presence of protesters remained outside the Houses of Parliament for the rest of the week, two embarked upon a hunger strike to show the urgency of their plight. On Saturday, 11th April, 100,000 Tamils from across the UK and Europe marched through central London before congregating in Hyde Park for a rally and speeches, their colourful banners and passionate calls for peace attracting the attention of tourists and Saturday shoppers.

Such actions took place all over the world, and could perhaps be aligned with an announcement by the Sri Lankan government on Sunday night that they would "restrict their operations during the New Year [two-day Sinhala and Tamil New Year that starts on Monday 13th April] to those of a defensive nature". However, with no promise of downing-arms permanently, Tamil vigils continue outside Parliament. 


Photos: Rudolf Cech