Low crowd of 2,500-3,000 at `Pongu Thamizh` event in Toronto big blow to `Nediyavan` led LTTE faction
31 October 2011, 6:02 am

by D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Less than 3000 people attended pongu Thamizh (Tamil Upsurge)event staged by Nediyavan led faction of pro-LTTE elements in Toronto on Oct 29

While the crowd was large by Canadian standards it was a massive drop in numbers compared to earlier LTTE events conducted at the same venue

A Pongu Thamizh event at the same venue QueensPark in 2004 had crowds of 35,000 participating.Other pro-LTTE meetings also drew big crowds

Public rallies described as Ponguthamizh (Tamil upsurge) are widely acknowledged as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) sponsored events

The Pongu Thamizh event of Oct 29th 2011 had only 2500-3000 attending though the Toronto Sun newspaper stated that roughly 5000″ were there

Most pro-LTTE websites referred to crowds of thousands without specifying a number while some quoted the bloated Toronto Sun figure of 5000

The Pongu Thamizh meaning Tamil upsurge referred to as Tamil Freedom Rally in some media was an LTTE failure despite the Tamil media hype

The event was organized by the National council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT) & the democratic group of the Transnational Tamil Eelam Govt (TGTE)

Both the NCCT& democratic faction of the TGTE are under the overall leadership of Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyavan based in Norway

The Nediyavan led pro-LTTE elements adopted a low profile & called upon Tamils in Canada to attend on behalf of the Tamil community & youths

Attempts by Nediyavan loyalists to conduct a pongu Thamizh event were strongly opposed by pro-tiger elements from another LTTE faction

This faction is loyal to senior LTTE intelligence leader Sekarapillai Vinayagamoorthy alias Vinayagam who now operates from France & Germany

Vinayagam loyalists opposed Nediyavan loyalists saying pongu Thamizh should be held only after LTTE chief Prabhakaran emerges publicly

The ponguThamizh friction in Canada is a manifestation of the ongoing power struggle between Nediyavan & Vinayagam factions of overseas LTTE

The Vinayagam faction distributed leaflets&pasted posters asking Tamils to boycott the Ponguthamizh . The Nediyavan faction countered these

LTTE Nediyavan faction fixed the event date as Oct 29th so that Tamil national alliance MP`s visiting Canada could speak at Queens park

The Ponguthamizh organizers calculated that huge crowds would flock to hear TNA`s Sampanthan,Senathirajah & Sumathiran speak at the rally

The TNA declined to participate in a LTTE inspired meeting & delayed their arrival time in Toronto to 29th midnight to neatly miss the event

Despite pressure by LTTE elements the TNA refrained from participating at Ponguthamizh . Without the TNA attraction attendance fizzled out

Crowds at pro-tiger events in Canada have been dropping in numbers since the LTTE military debacle of May 2009

In a desperate bid to garner a big crowd the LTTE faction utilised local Tamil media to a great extent. Free transport was also arranged

In spite of these efforts the event turned out to be a damp squib in terms of attendance with only 2500-3000 attending

The number of attendees increased due to many non-Tamil protestors involved in Occupy Toronto demonstrations also joining the spectators

Many attending wore the LTTE colours of red&yellow. Placards of Prabhakaran`s picture&tiger flags called Tamil Eelam flags were visible

The poor turn-out at the Ponguthamizh event in Toronto is seen as proof of the decline of LTTE influence among Canadian Tamil Diaspora

The flop also indicates that the Vinayagam faction is gradually gaining the upper hand over the Nediyavan faction within the overseas LTTE

This is a bundle of tweets posted by DBS Jeyaraj on twitter