While exiting on Queen Subway I noticed an old woman with a faded sari underneath a heavy winter coat. Dark lines creased her forehead. Her hands were laden with thick woolly gloves while she silently clutched on to her placard which said "Stop the violence in Sri Lanka." I stopped. Stared. I have never really bothered if people were intimidated at my stare or tried to stare me down. Till I had my fill, I continued to stare vacantly at her with thoughts running left right and centre as I anxiously waited for some kind of answer. An answer to what would motivate an elderly woman to brave this dreadful weather and hold a silent protest, alone.
I was wrong.
I got out of my muted trance and exited the sidewalk only to bang right into a sea of black winter coats holding large white signs screaming words like "Stop Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka" and "Rwanda genocide in Sri Lanka." Two small black eyes shyly handed me a leaflet propagating their cause. A horde of students, husbands, wives, children, grandparents, working people who took a half-day even with a recession on yelled at the top of their voice "WE WANT JUSTICE."
I do not think the Tamil government in Sri Lanka or even the LTTE heard or saw their human chain.
Did Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper hear their shout out? Was a statement released? Would Canada deploy troops to save innocent blood from mass genocide?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Here are a few observations about the protest. And these are observations.
I observed kids dressed up like punk stars, people feeding their faces, roaming around with Tim Horton paper bags and coffee cups everywhere and you know, protesting. I Made me wonder, how serious are you guys? You got out of Sri Lanka. You were lucky. You had the money and you chose to leave. You packed you family and your bags and scrambled to safety.
The people left behind are people who weren’t as lucky as you. They didn’t have the same advantages as you, same benefits as you, didn’t come from the same social background as you. They didn’t have a choice. Because those people who were educated,with the means to make a change in Sri Lanka left and are still leaving. Running away... miles away.
War, violence, natural disasters, these are things you can’t run away from, no matter how hard you try. I am not saying the protest was futile. Heck it showed that people were worried about their loved ones back home. They braved the cold didn’t they? But what is your protest really going to do? A silent peaceful protest for a couple of hours in silent peaceful Canada?
Same goes for all of us from Asia or Africa. Indian's, Pakistani's, Chinese, Zimbabwean's. All of us who keep running away to America, Canada, Europe, Australia, all of us who want what they have readymade, yet do not want to fight for it. They fought for independence too you know. When are we going to stop running and face up to reality? Face up to what is out there? That what is OUT THERE is real. It exists. And running away from it no matter how hard we try... will not change anything. Because in the end... you cannot escape death.
