Demonstrators from both the British Tamil community and its supporters staged a mass rally to Downing Street today to call on the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to boycott the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is due to take place later this month in Sri Lanka. At its peak, almost 4,000 people took part in the rally, waving banners and placards describing the various human rights abuses, war crimes and acts of genocide the Sri Lankan state stands accused of committing against the Tamils. Demonstrators also displayed messages calling on David Cameron and Prince Charles to avoid lending legitimacy to a state that continues to smear “blood on its hands”.
At the end of the procession, six members of British Tamils Forum presented a petition on behalf of the crowd to 10 Downing Street, calling on the Prime Minister to boycott the summit in order to send the strongest possible message that the UK would not tolerate Sri Lanka’s historical and continuing violations of international law. The petition also called for the Commonwealth to suspend Sri Lanka and demanded that those responsible for perpetrating acts of genocide against the Tamil people must be held to account by the international community.
7 October 2013 – Bali, Indonesia – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement: “When Sri Lanka was selected to host the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Canada was hopeful that the Sri Lankan government would seize the opportunity to improve human rights conditions and take steps towards reconciliation and accountability. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. Canada is deeply concerned about the situation in Sri Lanka. The absence of accountability for the serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian standards during and after the civil war is unacceptable. Canada noted with concern the impeachment of the Sri Lankan Chief Justice earlier this year, and we remain disturbed by ongoing reports of intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra judicial killings. Canada believes that if the Commonwealth is to remain relevant it must stand in defence of the basic principles of freedom, democracy, and respect for human dignity, which are the very foundation upon which the Commonwealth was built. It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values, which are cherished by Canadians. As such, as the Prime Minister of Canada, I will not attend the 2013 CHOGM in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is a decision that I do not take lightly.
ஒக்தோபர் 08,2013
திரு. விக்னேஸ்வரன் தமிழீழ மக்களின் தெரிவல்ல என்பதை தமிழகம் புரிந்துகொள்ள வேண்டும்! என்ற தலைப்பில் இசைப்பிரியா ஒரு கட்டுரை வரைந்துள்ளார். அந்தக் கட்டுரை அரசியல் யதார்த்தைப் புரியாது வெறு உணர்ச்சி அடிப்படையில் எழுதப் பட்டுள்ளது. அந்தக் கட்டுரைக்கான பதில் இது.
[TamilNet, Monday, 23 September 2013, 08:23 GMT] – The obsession of utmost priority for a section of TNA leadership is to satisfy the Sri Lanka saving agenda of New Delhi and Washington, by interpreting the TNA victory as supersession of the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution based mandate of 1977, political observers in Jaffna commented on a statement made by the TNA leader Mr. R. Sampanthan, aided by Mr M.A. Sumanthiran, at a press conference convened in Jaffna on Sunday. Sampanthan talking of united and undivided country described the TNA victory as a clear verdict of Tamils, unprecedented in the political history of the island. Answering a question raised by an Eezham Tamil journalist that how then he views the 1977 verdict, Sampanthan said that there is nothing wrong in stating that the present victory is greater than the 1977 one. Sumanthiran was heard aiding him in answering the question. Without giving an opportunity to the genocide-affected people to decide on their political status, and without proving anything on demilitarization, territorial integrity of Eezham Tamils, prevention of demographic genocide, internationally recognizable constitutional guarantee for the nation of Eezham Tamils and even an international investigation on the war crimes, New Delhi and Washington are able to extract such assurances and interpretations from a section of Tamil leadership that jump at a hollow and nothing-new PC election, the observers commented.
[Sunday 22 September 2013 ] Sri Lanka’s main ethnic Tamil party won a convincing victory in the country’s northern provincial elections, according to results released on Sunday, in what has been seen as a resounding call for wider regional autonomy in areas ravaged by a quarter-century of civil war. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will form the first functioning provincial government in the northern Tamil heartland after securing 30 out of 38 seats in Saturday’s elections, Sri Lanka’s elections commission said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s coalition won the rest of the seats. The win provides a platform for the TNA to campaign for an autonomous federal state, though the provincial council is largely a toothless body. The Tamils have fought unsuccessfully for self-rule for six decades, at first through a peaceful struggle and then the bloody civil war. The elections were seen by the international community as a test of reconciliation between the Tamils and the majority ethnic Sinhalese, who control Sri Lanka’s government and military.
The Tamil people have once again stated loud and clear their desire to determine their own future by voting for the Tamil National Alliance in overwhelming numbers in the Northern Provincial Council Election. British Tamils Forum calls on the international community to take heed of the message delivered by the voters of the Northern Province; the Tamil national question and Sri Lanka’s perpetual human rights crisis will only ever be resolved by giving the Tamil people the chance to decide for themselves how, and by whom, they wish to be governed.
