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MARCO WERMAN: I'm Marco Werman. This is The World. There was joy in at least some parts of Sri Lanka today. The government declared a national holiday. It was to express thanks for the army's victory over the Tamil Tiger insurgents and an end to a long and bitter civil war in the island country. But celebrations appeared muted. The party mood also appeared limited to areas inhabited by Sinhalese, the majority in Sri Lanka. Tamils largely stayed home, unsure about the prospects of reconciliation after three decades of civil war. Outside the country, Tamils who fled Sri Lanka were absorbing the news of the defeat of the Tigers. No more so than in Canada. It has a sizable number of Tamils allowed in as refugees over the past few decades. As they have for several months, some Tamil Canadians demonstrated in Toronto against the Sri Lankan government's military offensive. Tracy Seeley reports on the mood of that portion of the Tamil diaspora.

TRACY SEELEY: The defeat of the Tamil Tigers was a crushing blow for many Tamil Canadians.

ROSHAN ALISTEROSARIO: We may never be protesting again, like our voices may never be heard again right after this.

SEELEY: Roshan Alisterosario is one of thousands of thousands who've poured into the streets of Toronto on a regular basis since January, decrying what they call the genocide back home. Their reaction to the Sri Lankan government's declared victory of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ranges from grief to disbelief and even defiance. 21 year-old Mathusa Shanmugaiajah has never known a Sri Lanka without civil war and the Tigers fight for a Tamil homeland.

MATHUSA SHANMUGAIAJAH: If you're asking whether the LTTE is done or if they're over with, I personally don't believe so.

SEELEY: The chance of Tamil protests have become a part of daily life in downtown Toronto. Demonstrators formed human chain stretching for blocks. They shut down a main thoroughfare near the University of Toronto for days, and it escalated from there.

PROTESTORS: No justice, no peace.

SEELEY: Early this month, thousands of Tamils shocked police and frustrated commuters by spilling onto a major expressway. It's never been clear who the organizers are, but many demonstrators wave the flag of the Tamil Tigers. Since the early 80s, the Sri Lankan Tamil population in Canada has swelled from a couple of thousands to more than 200,000, one of the largest concentrations of the Tamil diaspora in the world. For years Canadian governments reserved judgment on the civil war, but in 2006 the current government declared the Tigers a terrorist group. That didn't stop Tamil Canadians from offering political and more importantly, financial support to the Tigers. Until recently, critics of the Tigers within the Tamil community have remained silent. But freelance writer Ignasious Selliah says he and a growing number of others are no longer afraid to speak up.

IGNASIOUS SELLIAH: The genuine struggle, the genuine grievances of the Tamil people are being destroyed and the whole struggle was abducted by the Tigers at gunpoint and an entire democratic voice of Tamil society was eliminated.

SEELEY: Whether Tamil Canadians support the Tigers or not, they all fear what the future holds back home, whether the Sri Lankan government will now work to help the quarter of a million people displaced by the fighting. Balendran Arumugan has no confidence in the good will of the Sri Lankan government.

BALENDRAN ARUMUGAN: You think that after they have militarily defeated us, they can do something, they feel sorry for us and do something? Never.

SEELEY: David Poopalapillai is with the Canadian Tamil Congress. He says the situation is desperate.

DAVID POOPALAPILLAI: The girls are being raped as we speak. Every minute. The people are losing life. Without the proper food. Without proper medicine. Let us address this issue as collectively as Canadians.

SEELEY: The Canadian government is calling on Sri Lanka to cooperate with international aid efforts. But that's enough for Tamil groups. They want Canada to send in more aid and to increase pressure on the Sri Lankan government. Otherwise, they'll take to the streets again. For The World, I'm Tracy Seeley in Toronto.

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