A Tamil Nadu based human rights outfit, May 17 Movement, which has been spearheading a series of campaigns against the government of Sri Lanka, has urged singer Hariharan of the popular band ‘Colonial Cousins’ not to take part in a music concert scheduled for July 7 (tomorrow) at Colombo’s Bloom Field Grounds.
theweekendleader.com states 'Pointing out that the Sri Lankan government has been accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, the group said Colombo has been organizing various cultural events as part of its public relations to restore its ‘tainted image’ in the wake of the UN report that indicted the country’s security forces for its conduct during the last stages of the war against the LTTE in 2008-2009.
Urging Hariharan to boycott the concert, the statement said: “These events are designed to create an image of Sri Lanka as a peaceful and democratic country and convince the world community that it is free of Human Rights violations.
“In direct contrast to its attempts, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) declared yesterday, that nearly 15,000 Tamils have disappeared since the end of the civil war in May 2009.”
The May 17 Movement has begun rallying the support of civil society members and film industry personalities to urge Hariharan to cancel his visit to Colombo.
According to the statement, award winning Tamil lyricist Tamarai has already contacted the singer and has expressed the anguish of Tamils over his decision to participate in the event.
Directors Bharathiraja, Ameer, and Vetrimaran have also requested Hariharan to boycott the concert.'
However the organisers of the concert have assured fans that the situation is under control and that they are trying their best to make sure the concert goes on as planned.
Comments (9)
Calistus Jayatilleke
Jul 06, 2012 09:54 amThank you gentlemen, somehow get him to boycott the show because we dont need Indians to entertain us and at least we can save our hard earned money rather than squander it to fatten the pocket of some visitng Indian entertainer.
ReplyKarolis
Jul 06, 2012 10:09 amIthin umbata kawuru hari kiwwada hard earned money walin concert eka balanna yanna kiyala? Thawath nikan jaathiwaadaya athi karanne nathuwa hitapan gono!
Replyshanti
Jul 06, 2012 11:11 amSri Lankans are jolly people (nawa kilunath band choon) no matter what happens we want to sing and dance...no matter who is performing as long the music is good..so let the music play ! after all this man is in support of peace and will not dance to the music played by indian politicos
Replykali
Jul 06, 2012 06:06 pmow ow..api katha karoth thamayi jaathiwaadaya.....
ReplyMoney
Jul 06, 2012 07:03 pmHope he returns the money
ReplyFaqi
Jul 06, 2012 10:26 pmIt's good, lets cut all ties with India, we can get on without them
Replythey supported the initial skirmishes of the LTTE and trained their cadres in sought India with the knowledge of the south Indian government. Lets cut our ties and have close ties with India. In fact all the communicable diseases come from India for centuries.The least we have to with them the better.
M N Nizam
Jul 07, 2012 05:09 amWell said Karolis....
Replylankan
Jul 07, 2012 06:44 amwith no bias I would like to know how many of the 15,000 disappeared people landed in Christmas island?
Replyasoka
Jul 07, 2012 05:43 pm@ nizam and karolis...i feel sad about you guys...you missed a an opportunity to see another indian joker...what calistus said was truth...give that money to a beggar if the organizers return it...
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