Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Acceptance Speech 18 May 2024

Suganthini Thangarasa

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

18 May in 1980 was not only a day filled with tears and blood, but a day of resistance and hope. It was a day the Korean people told the world that no one can take away their human dignity and will to freedom. That is why we are gathered here today, even after 44 years, to say, that no one can take away our human dignity and freedom. The world heard the cries and hopes of the Korean people. Dictatorship was ousted. Democracy was established, though far from perfection. We have a long way to go… Our lands are getting militarized again.

There was another 18 May. That was in 2009. Like it is done for the Palestinians in Gaza today by Israel, for months the Tamil people were herded like animals into a small patch of land on the coast, by the Sri Lankan security forces, and were bombed from air, and shelled from sea and land killing at least 70,000. The last place of the massacre is called Mullivaikaal and the day was 18 May, 2009. It was also not only a day of tears and blood, but also a day of resistance and hope. The same global powers that support Israel today supported the Sri Lankan state then and continue to do so today. They kept silent when we cried out for life and continue to do so until today. Yet, after 15 years I have arrived in Korea, in Gwangju, to tell my story. My story is the story of my people, who never stop hoping for human dignity and freedom.

We Tamils were oppressed, tortured, raped, made to disappear, and murdered for decades, simply because we demanded our human dignity and freedom. The world powers were silent. Then we took up arms to defend ourselves and then we were called terrorists. The war on Tamils was named as a war against terrorism like the war on Gaza is named today. Those who resisted dictatorship in Korea were called communists!

To stand for our human dignity and freedom is not a crime, but it is our right to do so. As Nelson Mandela said, ‘I resist. If I do not resist, I stop to be human’.

Only you who have gone through such resistance to oppression and have gone through massacres like Gwangju can understand us, the Tamils. This award is a testimony to your understanding and recognition of our struggle to be treated as human beings. We Tamils are human beings. By giving this award, you have disrupted the global silence about Tamils and disturbed the militarized victor’s peace in Sri Lanka. It is a false peace that has been formed on the graveyards of thousands of Tamils, in particular on the bodies of women.

I thank you so much from the very bottom of my heart for this award; it is an award to my people. This award sends a message to the world, that we Tamils are human beings. Thank you again. Is saying thank you enough? No, I do not think so. It is better if we can embrace each other and cry? Is that enough? No, that is also not enough. Should we not raise our hands together as an act of resistance and solidarity with one another. Should we not shout together ‘Stop militarization of our lands, stop building your power on the bodies of women. We will build a peaceful world’.

I stand before, you, as a Tamil woman, as a woman who was brutalized by the Sri Lankan state with thousands of women young and old. They all are my sisters. We joined our national liberation struggle not only to end occupation of our homeland but also to build a society where women gain equal dignity. Through our decades long struggle, we achieved gender equality which no other Asian country achieved. Any woman could travel middle of the night unharmed. Domestic violence was contained. Women were represented in every sector of the de facto state of Tamil Eelam which was led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This was witnessed by many foreign delegates who visited our land during the 2002 peace process. Yet, it is those Western powers who preached women rights to the world who supported the Sri Lankan state to destroy people, our land, above all our human achievements. The powers who wanted to convert the island of Sri Lanka into a military strategic location destroyed the 2002 peace process and unleashed a genocidal onslaught on our people. Our struggle was not only a struggle for our rights but also for peace in Asia.

Even after such a genocidal massacre and ongoing structural genocide today we cannot be defeated. We formed AMARA, which means ‘eternal’ to continue with our struggle, especially a struggle led by women against militarization, land grab, enforced disappearances, denial of memory, sexual abuse and above all for peace. Without resistance to militarization peace is not possible. We women know more than anybody else how brutal militarization is, whether it is in Tamil Eelam, Palestine, or Korea.

I dedicate this award to all the Tamil women, not only to those who publicly come forward to speak out, but also to all those who are silently crying, but hoping for the day when they can tell the world the truth about them. This award gives them courage to join hands together to stand for their dignity and their land.

I consider this award not as a personal award, but as a recognition of the Tamil struggle for human dignity and freedom.


Thank you.

Kamsa Hamida