‘Tamils should not compromise on independent Tamil Eelam’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 August 2012, 23:33 GMT]
While the Solhiems of the West urge the Eezham Tamils to use only Gandhian methods of protest to secure some convenient solution within a unitary Sri Lanka, youth activist Gobi Sivanthan’s hunger strike following Gandhian means, which is entering its 15th day today, shows to the western world that the just demands of the Eezham Tamil nation cannot be compromised for the sake of convenience. Speaking through a video interview for TamilNet, Sivanthan, along with Sasithar Maheswaran from TCC-UK, said in unequivocal terms that only an independent Tamil Eelam can resolve the problems of the genocide affected Eezham Tamils, referring to the three types of sovereignty that the Tamils are entitled to as highlighted in the TSC declaration.



Activists from the National Union of Students, the largest student group in the UK, Restless Beings, an activist group of Rohingya Muslims, activists from Occupy London, Refugees and Migrant Forum Office London and other socialist groups conveyed their solidarity to the hunger striker over the last couple of days.

Sivanthan talked about the rationale of his method of his protest and his five demands, focussing on the accelerated land grabs and colonization of the Tamil homeland which he said Sri Lanka was doing with the genocidal intention of depriving the Tamil nation of its territorial integrity.

He also criticized countries that were trying to paint a picture of normalcy in the island of Sri Lanka by deporting Eezham Tamil asylum seekers.

Referring to the three types of sovereignty that the Tamils possess, he said that the UK and the world powers should recognize that.

Sivanthan appealed to Tamils in Tamil Nadu and the Tamil diaspora not to be fooled by solutions within a unitary Sri Lanka like internal self-determination, provincial councils, regime change etc that were being imposed on the Eezham Tamils by the world powers, insisting that Tamils world over should not compromise on the goal of an independent Tamil Eelam.

Speaking about the protests by Eezham Tamils in the UK against Mahinda’s visit to the British Queen’s Diamond Jubilee ceremony and Sri Lankan presence in the London Olympics, Mr. Maheswaran said that the underlying principle in both the protests were the same, opining that they did not target an individual but challenged the legitimacy of the genocidal unitary Sri Lankan state.

He lamented that the authorities in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the people who set foreign policy are not responding to the mass demonstrations of the Eezham Tamils and still continue to give legitimacy to genocide accused leaders and officials of the Sri Lankan state.

Mr. Maheswaran further said that the UK was fully aware of the three forms of sovereignty that that the Tamils were entitled to, as described in the Tamil Sovereignty Cognition declaration, criticising measures by world powers that kept the Eezham Tamils bound to a solution within the unitary state of Sri Lanka.



Chronology:

04.08.12  ‘Tamils should not compromise on independent Tamil..

27.07.12  Tamils in UK condemn Sri Lankan presence at Olympi..

22.07.12  Fasting in London against genocidal Sri Lanka time..

Independent international investigation on Sri Lanka called for at London event

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 May 2012, 05:35 GMT]
Eezham Tamils from across the UK gathered at Trafalgar Square, London to remember the Mu’l’livaaykkaal massacre at a remembrance event organized by the British Tamils’ Forum, on Saturday. With participation from the main political parties of the UK, diaspora groups and activists from the homeland and Tamil Nadu, speakers at the occasion emphasised the need for an independent international investigation in the island, a probe into charges of genocide committed by the Sri Lankan state, ending the militarization and colonization of the Tamil homeland, and self-determination of the Tamil people. Many of the non-Tamil speakers also strongly stated that the UK should stop deporting the Eezham Tamil asylum seekers back to the island. The event drew a crowd of over five thousand the organizers said, citing police sources.

TNA MP S. Sritharan

TNA Parliamentarian S. Sritharan, talking about various forms of atrocities during and after Mu’l’livaaykaal, noted how the GoSL was clamping on various democratic voices among the Tamils, referring to the recent attacks on the Jaffna University student leader and the CID interrogation of Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph.

Pointing out how ‘reconciliation’ was being used a word to repress the political aspirations of the Eezham Tamils, he talked about how establishment-politicians like Erik Solheim sought to contain the diaspora from articulating their demands by talking about a ‘home-based solution’.

Martin Powell Davies

Andrew Higginbottom

Margaret Owen

Simon Hughes MP

Deputy Mayor Victoria Borwick

Ravi Kumar of BTF

Lee Scott MP

TYO representative

Rasiah Jeyarajah of BTF

Sritharan also said that the ever increasing Sinhala militarization of the Tamil homeland placed greater onus on the diaspora to be more active in pursuing the demands of the Eezham Tamil people.

Video statements from Tamil Nadu activists Pazha Nedumaran, Vaiko, Kolathur Mani, Seeman, Thirumurugan Gandhi, conveying their solidarity with the occasion and urging the Tamil diaspora to stand firm by their just demands, were relayed. Speaking at the event, TN film maker V. Gowthaman said that India’s position would change only if Tamil Nadu’s people united as one voice for the Eezham Tamils.

British parliamentarians who addressed the vigil included Lee Scott (Conservative), Barry Gardiner (Labour) and Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat). An audio statement from Ed Miliband (Labour) received for the occasion was played. They were unanimous in arguing for an independent inquiry into war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state.

Martin Powell-Davies, from the National Union of Teachers, deputy Mayor Victoria Borwick reading a message from Mayor Boris Johnson, Roger Evans, Conservative London Assembly member, expressed similar sentiments.

Margaret Owen, OBE, Barrister, talked of the sufferings Tamil women and children went through under the Sri Lankan regime while Conservative Councillor Alan Weinberg stated that protecting human rights was more important that trade agreements.

Dr. Andrew Higginbottom, lecturer in Politics and Human Rights at Kingston University, London, sharply criticized the deportation of Eezham Tamil asylum seekers in the UK.

Many also strongly came down on war crimes accused SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa being invited to Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations this June.

Tim Martin of Act Now spoke against fragmentation in the diaspora and stressed the need to work together to bring the perpetrators of the genocide of the Tamils to justice.

Speaking about how Sri Lanka was militarizing and colonizing the Tamil homeland and trying to break the will of the Tamil people by spreading a “defeatist mentality” among the Tamil diaspora through various means, Ravikumar of the BTF emphasised the need for the Eezham Tamils to campaign with greater vigour with Tamil Nadu in other parts of India. He also said that while keeping in mind the art of political manoeuvring among establishments, it was also necessary to popularize the struggle among other oppressed nations and peoples.

Talking about the role of the Tamil youth in the freedom struggle, Visagan Balakumar of the TYO said that that the Eezham Tamil nation’s security, the island’s peace and the region’s stability lay in the creation of Tamil Eelam.

Janani Jananayagam, UK spokesperson for TAG, said that after 2009 when “Every international institution abandoned its duty and walked away. Not just the United Nations and international aid agencies but also the international media,” now 3 years later, the Sri Lankan model of ethnic conflict is the test of credibility of the international rule of law.

Rasiah Jeyarajah from the BTF said "we shall not forget what happened to our people and we shall not abandon them."

Manny Thain, National Co-ordinator for Tamil Solidarity and Jujini Mano from the TYO also spoke at the event. A recorded voice message of Fr. Emmanuel was played at the Square.