On Heroes' Day, Check the Label

Are your clothes dripping Tamil blood?

by Senthuri Thayamohan

They are innocuously peppered throughout your house: jeans thrown over your chair, sweatshirts piled on the couch, t-shirts in the laundry. And they are covertly funding the bombings of our Tamil brethren in Northeast Sri Lanka?

Even as our hearts ache and our minds rebel reading the horror stories on TamilNet, we don’t realize the way we contribute to the bloodshed.

But the sad reality is that we are funding Sri Lanka’s war against our own people when we purchase goods made in Sri Lanka.

One quarter of Sri Lanka’s exports are textiles, the second largest industry behind its food and drink business (booming due to its high demand Ceylon teas). Thus, textiles and products for consumption are the most significant components of Sri Lanka’s economy, fuelling the Sri Lankan state and thereby fuelling the government’s war against the Tamil people.

The war against the Tamil Tigers has been an ugly one, well-documented by photos from Pesalai, Mavilaru, Vangalai, Allaipitty, Vaharai. Even in so-called peacetime, schools were bombed and hospitals shelled. And we, as members of the Tamil diaspora, have felt helpless in front of our computers, as we read about the latest massacres and saw the bodies pile up.

It is time for the Tamil people to stop being helpless in Sri Lanka and around the world. We can do something to stop the slaughter. Even simpler than campaigning with our host country’s government, we can let our money campaign for us.

We can stop purchasing goods made in Sri Lanka. All textiles, Ceylon tea, Lemon Puffs, Chocolate Puffs, gems, accounts in Sri Lankan banks – part of the profits from these products ends up in Mahinda’s pockets, which he then uses to purchase Kfirs and weapons to turn against Tamil children at Sencholai and patients in Kilinochchi General Hospital.

So this Heroes ’ Day, instead of sitting blankly in front of your computer, feeling pangs of helpless and sorrow at the plight of our brethren in our homeland, do something. Starting on Heroes ’ Day, say no to all products made in Sri Lanka. Say no to Sinhala companies sending their profits to the Sri Lankan government. Say no to the Sri Lankan government. Say no to the slaughter of Tamils.

*Campaign to BOYCOTT SRI LANKA*

To get involved or learn more about the campaign, please contact:

boycottSriLanka@gmail.com

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