Shame on you: Liberal MP's Gurbax Singh Malhi and Derek Lee

The National Post raises a great point and since its a relatively short article I've reporduced it below:

Terrorism double-standard

National Post Published: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
As members of this editorial board watched tens of thousands of Tamil Canadians throng downtown Toronto on Monday, we couldn't help but be struck by a curious double-standard that afflicts Canadian ethnopolitics. To wit: Why are Canadian Tamils permitted to express support for terrorism in a manner that would be considered outrageous if the demonstrators were Arab or Muslim?

The rally that took place in Toronto on Monday was not just, as organizers claimed, an expression of support for Tamil civilians in war-torn Sri Lanka. Many of the participants carried flags of the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist group that practices suicide bombings and abducts children to use as soldiers. (In 2006, Canada's federal government officially designated the Tamil Tigers a terrorist group, a move that criminalized the group's fundraising efforts in this country.) Some of the banners displayed on Monday also depicted Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, a wanted mass murderer who personally authorizes the acts of terrorism the group has committed over the last three decades.

Yet there was little outrage. To our knowledge, no politicians at any level of government have come forward to denounce this open demonstration of support for a banned terrorist group. In fact, Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi recently appeared personally at a similar rally in Ottawa, and another Liberal MP, Derek Lee, has urged other MPs to join in, too.

Imagine for a moment, if the protestors had instead been Arab or Muslim. Would Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff, Dalton McGuinty and David Miller be silent if 120,000 supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah paralyzed downtown Toronto as they chanted slogans and waved flags praising groups that slaughter Jews?

To his great credit, Mr. Ignatieff recently denounced "Israel Apartheid Week" when he saw that it was being used as a cover for poisonous attacks against the Jewish state. Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has lashed out against the Canadian Arab Federation for its leader's unhinged attacks in the same vein. This zero-tolerance attitude toward terror-apologism is praiseworthy -- but we would like to see it applied across the board. The Sinhalese Sri Lankan victims of Tamil Tiger terrorism are no less deserving of support than the Jewish residents of Ashkelon or Sderot.

The reason for this double standard is obvious: There are more than 200,000 Canadians of Sri Lankan Tamil descent in Canada, enough to comprise a swing vote in suburban Toronto-area ridings. This is the reason that the Liberals were too scared to ban the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization when they were in power -- even with an (otherwise) principled anti-terror activist, Irwin Cotler, ensconced as Justice Minister. It was only when the Conservatives took power that the Tamils were added to the list of banned terrorist groups.

That move was a welcome one: Tamil bagmen can now no longer operate with impunity, extorting "contributions" from Tamil-owned businesses to fund the war back in Sri Lanka. And the police have since busted up a number of fundraising fronts tied to the Tigers. But public figures must also speak out when supporters of the Tigers make a spectacle of themselves, as they did in Toronto.

The message must be: Terrorism is a criminal affront to Canadian values, wherever it is practiced. Just because Canadians don't pay as much attention to Sri Lanka as they do to Israel doesn't change that fact.

LTTE Terrorist Organization attacks a civillian gathering

The LTTE have attacked another civillian gathering in the south region of Akuressa on Tuesday the 10th of March 2009.

A sucide bomber attacked a procession to mark a Muslim festival at around 10.30am. The residents of the area along with government officals and school children were gathered to commemorate the prophet Mohammed's birthday when they were attacked by a LTTE suicide bomber. The suicide bomber rode into their midst on a bicycle from the rear of the procession, which was making its way to the mosque and triggered the detonation upon reaching the midst of them. Two ministers who were attending the function were evactuated from the blast zone with superficial injuries but a dozen civilians are reported to have died and another 45 were evacuated to hospital with serious injuries.

A video from a news agency that was covering the event which shows people being evactuated and footage of the bomb blast is listed below. Please veiw with caution, the footage shows injured civilians, blood human body parts as well as the actual explosion.

Read the full story as listed on Yahoo news, 10th March 2009.

Attack on Sri Lankan village by armed insurgents

Armed insurgents have randomly attacked a village in Sri Lanka. The reports currently published indicate that it was an attack that was carried out by the LTTE on unarmed civilians who were tending to their crop.

York University sanctions its Tamil Students Association

Well York University known for its leniency towards student groups and free speech finally made a gesture; albeit a feeble one, but a gesture none the less towards indicating its dissent over the protest taken by the Tamil Students Association.

The Association was fined $500 and had to suspend their activities (meaning they were denied accessed to University resources) for 15 days.

A pretty pathetic slap on the wrist in my opinion. I really think more attention should be paid to these pro-LTTE student groups. I agree with York University's policy of free speech and I certainly agree that student groups should be allowed to promote awareness about issue important to them and society, why should that extent to turning a blind eye towards association with illegal groups and terrorist organizations?

The the LTTE is a recognized terrorist organization. Affiliation, promotion and fundraising activities for them are outlawed in Canada. So why is the University of York allowing a student groups to represent itself via the use of the LTTE flag?

I don't understanding and to me its inconceivable that a student group should be allowed to do so. The LTTE just like Al Qaeda is a recognised terrorist organization that is outlawed and banned in Canada. The LTTE just like Al Qaeda has terrorized Sri Lankan citizens in Sri Lanka and all over the world. They (the LTTE terrorist group) have violated human rights within territory controlled by them and have victimized civilians including members of the ethic population they claim to represent for over two decades. I really don't see much difference between Al Qaeda and the LTTE.

I'd like to know whether the Chancellor of York University, Roy McMurtry, would allow a student group to affiliate themselves with Al Qaeda, promote their ideology on campus and display paraphernalia known to be associated with Al Qaeda on campus. Obviously not. So why the double standard when it comes to the LTTE terrorist group?