Imagine a global nation of people stretched into a diaspora that numbers perhaps 80 million people, more than five times the global Jewish population. Have you heard of the Tamils? They are in South India, Malaysia, Canada, Sri Lanka and around the world. Mostly Hindu, there is a substantial Christian and Muslim population. You’re probably familiar with the work of A.R. Rahman from Slumdog Millionaire and M.I.A. from “Paper Planes.” You’ve likely been entranced by the work of film director M. Night Shyamalan and have laughed at the comic timing of Aziz Ansari on Parks and Recreation. You may not be aware of the groundbreaking work of Navi Pillay, as United Nations officials hardly get name-checked in pop culture, but she has expanded the recognition of human rights into long-overdue areas. In short, you may never have heard of the Tamils, but you have certainly come into contact with their work in arts, politics, and sciences. But this article is not about Tamil culture.

After decades of being systematically marginalized in Sri Lanka since independence from the British, Black July in 1983 saw the slaughter of an unknown number of Tamils. Estimates range between 400 and 3000 Tamils killed and perhaps 25,000 injured. This was the onset of large-scale civil war. Continuing for decades in fits and starts, the armed conflict ended with a massive military operation by the Sri Lankan government forces against Tamils struggling for an independent state. In an unfortunate chapter of the war’s closing days, in May of 2009, the White Flag Incident saw the killing of Tamils who thought they’d arranged for a surrender. The “resolution” of the conflict has left a diaspora increased by refugees, perhaps 90,000 Tamil war widows, and has attracted the attention of international officials concerned about the ongoing strife faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka. But this article is not about civilian strife or poor conduct in a rather “uncivil” war.

Tamils have continued to suffer with the systematic rape of women, men, and children. A report issued by Human Rights Watch this past week documents rape and sexual violence committed against Tamils in custody and is a deeply disturbing read. An earlier piece discussed the “capture” of a 12-year-old Tamil boy who was given a snack and began to relax before he was shot and executed at point blank range for the crime of being a family member of a Tamil soldier. There are reams of documentation of this violence, committed by a government that has been bending its peculiar Buddhist mythology to serve its rather un-Buddhist pogrom against those deemed ethnically different. But this article is not about the violence inflicted on children or…. read more.