Since May 2009, the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) has increasingly drifted away from the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people, adopted compromising positions, and begun colluding with the genocidal Sri Lankan state. To this day, CTC’s numerous acts of betrayal against the Tamil people have seriously undermined these core principles and aspirations and served to shield the perpetrators of the Tamil Genocide from international accountability.
These core principles and aspirations include achieving international recognition of the Tamil Genocide; ensuring international accountability and meaningful remedial justice for the Tamil Genocide committed by the Sri Lankan state; securing a permanent political solution grounded in the Eelam Tamil people’s inalienable right to self-determination in their historical, traditional and ancestral homeland on the island of Sri Lanka; combating Tamil Genocide denial and distortion; and combating Sri Lanka’s foreign interference in Canada targeting Tamil Canadians.
This became even more evident when CTC participated in the infamous “Himalaya Declaration,” which became public on December 7, 2023, and, alongside the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), met with former Sri Lankan President genocidaire Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was sanctioned and barred from entering Canada in January 2023.
This act of betrayal by CTC sparked widespread condemnation and demands for accountability. When CTC failed to accept responsibility for its actions and hold those involved accountable, Tamil Canadians collectively called for the complete rejection of CTC and a boycott of all its activities, including Tamil Fest 2024.
The boycott campaign received widespread support from the Tamil Canadian community, the broader public and elected officials. Tamil Canadians from all walks of life came together in protests condemning CTC’s acts of betrayal and demanding accountability.
Following widespread opposition, CTC’s leadership offered a public apology during Tamil Fest 2024 concerning its involvement in the “Himalaya Declaration” and its meeting with genocidaire Mahinda Rajapaksa. However, the apology failed to address the numerous other outstanding acts of betrayal committed by CTC against the Tamil people since 2009.
On Sunday, July 27, 2025, representatives of NCCT and CTC met to discuss the expectations of the Tamil people and explore a path forward based on unity and shared purpose. During the meeting, NCCT outlined how CTC’s actions since 2009 had undermined collective advocacy efforts grounded in the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people. NCCT also reaffirmed its position that CTC’s Board of Directors and officials responsible for promoting and endorsing the Himalaya Declaration must immediately step down and that the organization must undergo a fundamental transformation to become genuinely accountable to the Tamil people and faithfully represent their interests.
However, CTC’s subsequent actions have raised further serious questions about the sincerity of its August 2024 apology and its commitment to genuine accountability and meaningful reform.
CTC’s decision to merely reassign one of the individuals who should be held responsible and accountable for its endorsement of the “Himalaya Declaration”, by changing the individual’s title from “Executive Director” to “Director of Special Projects,” represents nothing more than a cosmetic change and does not constitute genuine accountability.
Genuine accountability demands the individual’s immediate, complete and permanent removal from CTC in all capacities, without exception. Anything short of completely severing the individual’s involvement, association and influence within the organization would constitute a failure to uphold meaningful accountability and a continued betrayal of the trust of the Tamil Canadians.
Such a superficial change raises serious questions about CTC’s sincerity in acknowledging its wrongdoing, accepting responsibility and implementing meaningful accountability measures.
CTC’s continued engagement with individuals whose documented positions contradict the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people further raises serious concerns about its commitment to advocating for and advancing those core principles and aspirations.
The most recent example is CTC’s decision to publicly host Rauff Hakeem as a special guest at its January 24, 2026, event. Rauff Hakeem is the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, a Member of Parliament in Sri Lanka, and a former Minister of Justice under the government of genocidaire Mahinda Rajapaksa, having served from November 2010 to December 2014, following the height of the Tamil Genocide in 2009.
In a July 2012 interview with Al Jazeera, Rauff Hakeem defended the Sri Lankan state against allegations of “war crimes” and “human rights abuses” and acknowledged lobbying against the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka. When directly questioned about whether Sri Lankan security forces had committed “war crimes” or “human rights abuses,” he categorically replied, “Certainly not,” while suggesting that civilian deaths could have resulted from “collateral damage.”
In January 2014, the Colombo Gazette, as cited by the Tamil Guardian, reported that Rauff Hakeem opposed efforts to gather evidence of “war crimes,” arguing that such efforts would aggravate divisions rather than promote “reconciliation.”
In October 2022, The Morning, as cited by the Tamil Guardian, reported that Rauff Hakeem again opposed an international accountability mechanism, advocating instead for a domestic Sri Lankan process.
His position was subsequently challenged in Sri Lanka’s Parliament in May 2024 by Tamil parliamentarian, who questioned why Rauff Hakeem called for international accountability for genocide in Gaza while opposing international accountability for genocidal acts committed against the Tamil people.
By embracing and providing a public platform to Rauff Hakeem, despite his well-documented record—including reported positions that reflect Tamil Genocide denial and distortion and opposition to an international accountability mechanism—CTC has once again demonstrated a deeply troubling disregard for the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people, raising serious questions about its credibility, its commitment to securing international accountability for the Tamil Genocide, its willingness to combat Tamil Genocide denial and distortion, and its sincerity in claiming to represent the Tamil Canadian community.
Further compounding these concerns, CTC’s recent public statement concerning the targeted attacks against Tamil-Canadian actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan raises serious questions about its commitment to recognizing, embracing and upholding Eelam Tamil national identity. Although Maitreyi explicitly identified herself publicly as a “Tamil Eelam Woman,” CTC, while claiming to defend her fundamental right to define and express her own identity, notably failed to acknowledge the very identity she had publicly expressed, omitting any reference to her Eelam Tamil identity, heritage or ancestral homeland.
This fundamental contradiction raises serious concerns about the sincerity and credibility of CTC’s stated defence of her right to self-identification. An organization cannot credibly claim to defend an individual’s right to define and express their own identity while failing to acknowledge the very identity that individual has explicitly and publicly chosen to express. Such selective omission is particularly troubling in light of CTC’s longstanding record of compromising the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people. It further raises serious doubts about CTC’s genuine willingness to openly recognize, embrace, defend and uphold the national identity of the Eelam Tamil people and their historical, traditional and ancestral homeland.
Any individual or organization claiming to represent the Eelam Tamil people must openly, publicly and unequivocally recognize, defend and uphold these core principles and aspirations. They cannot be compromised, diluted or set aside in the name of reconciliation, political engagement or organizational interests.
The establishment of a new Board of Directors presents an opportunity for CTC to address these longstanding concerns. However, CTC’s recent public communications, including those of its newly appointed Board of Directors, have not adequately demonstrated a clear and unequivocal commitment to the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people or satisfactorily addressed the outstanding demands for accountability.
Therefore, until CTC publicly acknowledges and accepts responsibility for all its past and continuing acts of betrayal against the Tamil people since 2009, publicly holds those involved accountable, and unequivocally embraces, defends and upholds the core principles and aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people, we urge everyone—including elected officials, candidates, community organizations, businesses, sponsors and the general public—to continue to boycott CTC and all its activities.
Thank you,
National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT)
Media Links:
Al Jazeera — July 14, 2012, Original Video Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lYyG44yHR0
Tamil Guardian — Reporting on the Al Jazeera Interview:
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/sri-lanka-being-unfairly-targeted-justice-minister
Tamil Guardian — January 2014: https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/stop-digging-war-crimes-evidence
Tamil Guardian — October 2022: https://www.tamilguardian.com/index.php/content/slmc-leader-speaks-out against-international-accountability-war-crimes
The Morning — October 19, 2022: https://www.themorning.lk/articles/223048
Tamil Guardian — May 2024: https://www.tamilguardian.com/index.php/content/sumanthiran-calls-out hypocrisy-sri-lanka-muslim-congress-leader-over-genocide-gaza
CTC Event — January 2026, Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz8wmsTNgXE