Tamil Remembrance Day 2009

A Chance to Speak to over 50,000 British Tamils – David Gold, PPC (Eltham)

I had the honour of speaking at the National Day of Remembrance for the British Tamil community at Excel Centre in Docklands. The dignity and scale of the event was very sobering, and it was humbling to be received with such gratitude. Along with David Cameron, William Hague and Liam Fox, I wish a peaceful resolution can be found in Sri Lanka, and the Tamil people given their rightful stake in their homeland once again.

The size of the audience was staggering – thousands and thousands of people quietly queuing to lay a rose on the temporary memorial to the tens of thousands killed in the conflict in Sri Lanka, while politicians of all political parties were invited to speak from the main stage.

The event was being televised globally to the scattered Tamils who have made their homes outside their ancestral home, while members of their families who were unable to escape are held in camps, often denied access by charities or outside observers.