Word: lanka
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...largest country in South Asia, India's repeal effort has been watched especially closely. "We have had a very progressive leadership, and I sincerely hope that the Indian decision will help us in the right direction," says Sahran Abeysundera, a gay rights activist in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital. As in India, Sri Lanka's law on homosexuality, known there as Section 365, has hindered HIV prevention programs among male sex workers. "We stand to gain more by repealing these laws than keeping them in the law books...
...number of young Tamils who are specifically sympathetic to the Tigers' cause is unclear, but they, too, vocalize their sentiments. Sam Pari, 26, a doctor in Australia who also visited Sri Lanka during the cease-fire to volunteer at orphanages and hospitals, regularly meets with fellow activists to plan events and rallies. After seeing what she describes as the "discrimination and racism of the government" firsthand, Pari says she understands why the LTTE resorted to arms throughout the conflict. "The diaspora is very concerned that the one body that protected the Tamils against oppression by the Sri Lankan government...
...many members of the first generation of Tamils who fled the country when the war began are relieved by the Tigers' seeming end, and wish that the global Tamil youth were more critical of the LTTE. Nirmala Rajasingam, a first-generation activist with the U.K.-based Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, says the Tigers were "packaged as martyrs and freedom fighters" to the Tamil people, and that the diaspora's "unquestionable support and loyalty made the LTTE more unaccountable for its military power." Rajasingam, who has spent much of her life in exile having once been involved with the guerrilla group...
...While many youth would still like to see the eventual creation of an independent Tamil homeland, their short-term grass-roots lobbying is intended to get Western governments to influence Sri Lanka into resettling the internally displaced Tamils today. "We know that laws have been violated against our people," says Siva Vimal, 20, a university student in Toronto who is involved with the York Federation of Students but has helped out groups like the Tamil Youth Organization in the past. "A lot of us have never been to Sri Lanka or seen the circumstances there, but we know the fundamental...
...Some see another way to harness the energy of the youth movement. Ruth Kattumuri, a co-director of the Asia Research Center at the London School of Economics, encourages Western Tamil youth to promote peace and development in Sri Lanka, including creating more opportunities for Tamils by teaching them skills or helping provide medical care. "They can raise the resources they need to go there and work on rehabilitation and education," Kattumuri says, instead of seeking out media opportunities that she says promote violent images of rowdy protestors. "It's about creating projects, which gives them employability. That...