MONTREAL—Some 800 Tamils demonstrate in downtown Montreal at the U.S. consulate May 8. The protest demanded a halt to the military assault by the government of Sri Lanka against tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been surrounded by troops in the northeastern part of the country.

Protesters demanded Washington and Ottawa force the Sri Lankan government to agree to an immediate and permanent cease-fire and a UN-monitored referendum on the Tamil people’s right to self-determination. Tamils are an oppressed minority in Sri Lanka who have been fighting for a Tamil homeland for decades.

Tamil organizations in Canada have called on Ottawa to lift its designation of the LTTE as a terrorist organization. “We are not terrorists. We are fighting for our freedom,” Kalpana Rama told the Militant at a May 6 picket line at the consulate.

On April 20, 30,000 Tamils marched on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. In Toronto May 10, thousands of Tamils blocked the Gardiner Expressway for hours. There are about 300,000 Tamils in Canada.

—JOHN STEELE