A move by Sri Lanka's new government to remove 16 groups and hundreds of Tamils from a list of "foreign terrorists", including dozens in Canada has met with angst and anger by the Sri Lankan community.
The country's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, said the previous administration of hardline president, Mahinda Rajapakse, had linked overseas Tamil outfits to the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which was crushed by his forces by May 2009.
"They banned several Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora groups... for their alleged links to the LTTE,"  Samaraweera told parliament.
"This was done to build up the hysteria about the LTTE regrouping."
A further 424 individuals, some of whom had been dead for years, had also been listed as terrorists and banned.
Announcing a review with a view to lifting the banning and terrorist classifications, the foreign minister said the action was part of the reconciliation plan by the new president, Maithripala Sirisena.
The LTTE also known as The Tamil Tigers, the Eellalan Force, the Ellalan Force, the Tiger Movement, the Sangilian Force, the Air Tigers, the Black Tigers (Karum Puligal), the Sea Tigers, the Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Service (TOSIS) and the Women's Combat Force of Liberation Tigers (WCFLT) are listed as banned terror outfits in Canada.
The RCMP labels another group called the World Tamil Movement, as “front organization” for Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers rebels.
The World Tamil Movement was created in 1986 and became a known and leading front organization for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Canada. The leadership of the WTM acts at the direction of the LTTE and has been instrumental in fundraising in Canada on behalf of the LTTE. WTM representatives canvas for donations amongst the Canadian Tamil population, and have been involved in acts of intimidation and extortion to secure funds.”
The Government of Canada states that although the LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009, subversion, destabilization, and fundraising continue, particularly in the diaspora.
There are over 300,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada - their largest concentration outside Sri Lanka.
Asoka Weerasinghe, the former Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Canada and a well well known Sri Lankan born activist in Canada said the new Government in Colombo should consult with the RCMP and the Canadian spy agency CSIS before making any decision.
In a letter to Sri Lankan foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, Weerasinghe wrote” I believe it will do you good to access from your Foreign Intelligence Directorate the Report of January 19, 2006 titled ‘Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Operations in Canada’ before you make any of your intended actions. “
“My request to you minister, with the lack of a dedicated and trained Intelligence Officer at your Mission in Ottawa, don’t do anything stupid until you consult the Canadian Intelligence, the RCMP, the Mackenzie Institute, Dr. Rohan Gunaratne, in Singapore; the former Presidents of the Sri Lanka United National Organization (SLUNA) of Toronto, Ms. Ira de Silva, Mr. Mahinda Gunasekera and Present President Mr. Pratap Perera. Also Mr. Asoka Yapa, Chairperson of Project Peace for a United Sri Lanka who are aware of the individuals and organizations that you are hoping to provide and amnesty with.  I vouch for you that these individuals know it all and the Who’s Who of Eelam activists. And permit me to remind you that the Sri Lankan-Canadians that I have mentioned were the second tier army who took on the challenge against the Canadian Eelamists to safeguard the good name and integrity of their Motherland since July 1983. At least you owe them a hearing as they stood tall for Sri Lanka under threats to their lives and intimidation, from the Canadian-Eelamists.”
The former regime of Mr Rajapakse, who ruled for a decade until he was defeated in January elections, had said the ban was to prevent them from funding Tamil rebels to regroup in Sri Lanka.
The terror designation applied to several organisations in Australia, Britain, Canada and the US.
Minister Samaraweera said most of the groups, as well as the individuals, designated terrorist had merely been vocal proponents of Tamil rights.
"There was hardly any tangible evidence to link them to the LTTE," the minister said.
Sri Lanka's main Tamil political party has accepted efforts of the new government to ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war that claimed more than 100,000 lives.
Security forces under Mr Rajapakse crushed the LTTE leadership in a military campaign that ended in 2009 but sparked allegations that up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were also killed.
Meanwhile, a leading Tamil group in Canada has urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  to put pressure on new President Maithiripala Sirisena to resolve the dragging ethnic issue.
Modi is expected in Canada in April with visits to Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. He had recently visited Sri Lanka.
"By undertaking (the first bilateral) visit after 28 years by an Indian leader to Sri Lanka, Modi has shown his personal commitment to resolving the issues faced by the people in Sri Lanka, particularly the Tamils in the north and east," the Canadian Tamil Congress said in a statement.
"Given the recent change of leadership in Sri Lanka, Modi's timely visit could serve as a meaningful step towards bringing lasting peace in Sri Lanka, especially since his visit will include a trip to the Northern Province, something no previous Indian prime minister has done," it said.
The group said Sri Lanka has consistently ignored calls by human rights organisations to allow the return of Tamil refugees, restore their lands, release detainees and end demilitarization of the north and east.
The Canadian Tamil Congress said the present situation provided a unique opportunity to bring about a lasting political solution to the Sri Lankan crisis.