The 300,000 plus Canadian Tamil community has praised Amitabh Bachchan for not attending IIFA at Colombo along with his entire family and thereby standing by them. He has been labelled the “great ambassador for mankind” by the community.

 

Canadian Tamil Congress national spokesman David Poopalapillai said, “Big B is really big. This name suits him, and he is our hero today. We Tamils salute him. By not going to Sri Lanka, Big B stands tall among Tamils around the world. Tamils are proud of Big B, his family and all the Indian actors who refused to become hosts of Sri Lanka which has innocent Tamil blood on its hands. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.”

 

He also said, “Bachchan has shown that he cares for us. He has shown to the world that he is a great ambassador for mankind and a great champion of human rights,” and that the Tamil Diaspora would “suitably reciprocate” at an available opportunity.

 

The community also lashed out at celebrities who attended the award ceremony calling them a "disgrace" to India.  Poopalapillai said, “By standing with those who have our blood on their hands, these stars have disgraced themselves. Sri Lanka held this ceremony on thousands of bodies of innocent Tamils. These actors have brought disgrace to India which believes in the Gandhian principle of respect for human rights.” He even called the event a means for Sri Lanka to divert world attention from its "war crimes".

 

Commenting on Salman’s criticism on Amitabh Bachchan’s absence from the 3 day event he said, “Who is this Salman Khan? He stands nowhere near Big B. So how can people like him criticise Mr Bachchan?"