ஒன்றுபட்ட இலங்கை - ஒரு தவறு ! - பிரித்தானிய அரசியல் பிரமுகர்

பிரித்தானியாவின் கன்சர்வேட்டிவ் கட்சியைச் சேர்ந்த அரசியல் பிரமுகர் கவுரவ ராச்சல் ஜோய்ஸ் அவர்கள் கடந்த ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை "தமிழ், சிங்களம் ஆகிய இரு தேசங்களாக இருந்த நாடுகளை பிரித்தானிய காலணித்துவம் இணைத்தது ஒரு மாபெரும் தவறு" என்று மன்னிப்புக் கோரியுள்ளார். இலங்கையில் சுமார் 30 லட்சம் தமிழர்கள் பூகோள ரீதியாகவும், சரித்திர ரீதியாகவும் தனித்துவமான பிரதேசமொன்றை பிரித்தானிய காலணித்துவம் வரும் வரையிலும் கொண்டிருந்தனர் என்றும், அவர்களது தனித்துவமான அரசும் நிர்வாகமும், பிரித்தானிய காலத்துக்கு முன்னெரேயே தனித்துவம் பெற்று விளங்கியிருந்ததாகவும் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளார். தொடர்ந்து வாசியுங்கள்.....

Unitary Ceylon was an error: British Politician

[TamilNet, Monday, 02 March 2009, 15:45 GMT]

A Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom, Dr. Rachel Joyce, apologised Sunday for the error of Colonial Britain in making a unitary Ceylon out of two nations, the Tamils and the Sinhalese. “The Tamil people have lived on the island currently called Sri Lanka for millennia - in their own contiguous, distinct, geographical territory. They lay claim only to the territory they have historically lived in. In fact, the 3 million Tamils of the island constituted a self governing nation until invaded and occupied by Colonial powers – in particular Britain, who amalgamated them with the Sinhala nation purely for convenience. In retrospect, this cultural naivety was a mistake that has caused problems since independence,” she said in a meeting held at Harrow, where Bruce Fein, a constitutional expert from the United States was the guest speaker.

Mr. Bruce Fain who led a lengthy interactive session, explained the basis of his case filed against genocide of Tamils.

Liberal politician and solicitor Christopher Noyse was another speaker in this first of a series of public meetings attended by a packed hall of audience of more than 200.

Full text of the address of Dr. Rachael follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you very much for the opportunity to speak at this event, which is dealing with such important issues.

I would like to thank Bruce Fein for his ………………… speech. [very moving]. I would also like to thank Gopal who invited me here today.

Dr. Rachel JoyceI would like to extend my sympathies to any of you have family who have been killed, hurt or otherwise affected by the conflict. In particular today I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family of Murukathasan Vanakulasingam, who, as we know, committed suicide on Friday, February 13, in a desperate attempt to draw the world's attention to the plight of his fellow Tamils in Sri Lanka. I cannot condone the loss of such a young and promising life, but my heart goes out to his family.

Acts such as this suicide are committed when people feel desperate, powerless, and feel they have virtually no avenues left for their people.

The Tamil people have lived on the island currently called Sri Lanka for millennia - in their own contiguous, distinct, geographical territory. They lay claim only to the territory they have historically lived in. In fact, the 3 million Tamils of the island constituted a self governing nation until invaded and occupied by Colonial powers – in particular Britain, who amalgamated them with the Sinhala nation purely for convenience. In retrospect, this cultural naivety was a mistake that has caused problems since independence. I would like to apologise for the British part in that error.

At the time of independence in 1948, both 3 million Tamils and 17 million Sinhalese inherited a reasonably healthy state. Sri Lanka’s prosperity could have been set, with a good geographical position for trade, a strong and productive economy, and a beautiful setting for a tourist industry as well.

Unfortunately, since then there has been an increasing catalogue of cultural and human rights atrocities. The chances for the two peoples to continue to live side by side, as two distinct, though not antagonistic cultures, has continually been threatened. Why did the government on the island, as one of its first acts, make 1 million Tamils of Indian origin stateless? Many of these Tamils were 6th generation and had no other home. Why also did they opt for the ‘Sinhala Only’ Language Act in 1956?

And, 25 years later, what could possibly be the logic of Sinhala police torching the Jaffna library and its ninety seven thousand rare historical books and manuscripts in 1981?

These acts of cultural disrespect and vandalism have been condemned before, but I condemn them again now.

Since then a raft of atrocities have been committed. In the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Tamils were forced to flee the island, many coming here to Britain. There are also hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people people within the island. Every aspect of normal life has been affected. The closing of the A9 highway effectively trapped nearly half a million Tamil civilians.

A year ago, the Sri Lankan government unilaterally withdrew from the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire, and under the leadership of its hawkish President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, embarked on this current campaign. All the evidence suggests that unless the international community acts very soon, about a quarter of a million people could be caught in a bloodbath. The Sri Lankan government has asked Tamil civilians to come over to their side for “protection”, but there is an understandably deep fear of such a move. The Tamil people have seen so much death and destruction. They are terrified of Sri Lankan troops and their "holding camps", with all the stories of assaults and rape.

On the other side there are stories suggesting that the LTTE has, or might, shoot anyone who tries to escape from the areas that remain under their control. But none of this is verifiable. The Sri Lankan government restricts all journalists and independent observers from entering the conflict zone. The reports from the few remaining aid or humanitarian agencies still allowed in the area are dismissed by the Sri Lankan authorities as propaganda.

Amnesty International, who is impartial to any political agenda, and only campaigns on human rights, has called the recent alleged sustained bombing of the Vanni hospital a “despicable act”, in fact stating that such an attack could constitute a war crime. They also say the so called ‘welfare villages’ violate the international prohibition on hostage taking.

Can Amnesty International and United Nations workers all be lying? Are the horrific pictures of bombed-out hospitals and lines of dead men, women and children all be fake?

It is clear that the majority of the Tamil people do not trust the Government of Sri Lanka to safeguard their lives or their futures.

And the British government could do much more to help. This is not just diplomatically – in the UN, in the Commonwealth, and through direct pressure on the government. In a debate in 2007, it was revealed that Britain licensed £7 million worth of weapons and military equipment for export to Sri Lanka that year alone. What on earth were they thinking?

Part of the problem here ironically is the democracy in Sri Lanka. I am a strong supporter of democracy, but there are different degrees of democracy. The Economist labels Sri Lanka a "flawed democracy" in its 2006 rankings. This is because there is a minority – the Tamils – who will always be at a significant disadvantage electorally. If Scotland wanted to leave the United Kingdom, and voted to do so, they would not be stopped by the rest of the British people. Perhaps the very fact that they could leave if they wished to has meant that their minority rights have always been protected in the UK, and is probably the reason that Scotland do not actually want to leave the union.

Foreign Policy ranks Sri Lanka 25th (ie Alert Category) in its Failed States Index for 2007. Sri Lanka was considered one of the "world's most politically unstable countries" by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank in 2004. However, Sri Lanka, according to the US State Department in 2005, was classified a "stable democracy" – but only when there was a ceasefire period, which shows how a peaceful solution could be so advantageous to both sides.

I know the British Tamils Forum have requested that the UN and the International Community:

Call for an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka and initiate peace talks;

Require that Sri Lanka allow all necessary humanitarian assistance and access by international humanitarian organizations and UN Agencies to the Vanni;

Put the Sri Lanka issue on the Security Council’s Agenda; and

Urge the Government of Sri Lanka to allow an international human rights monitoring mission under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

I fully support those points.

Edmund Burke said “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

This woman will not do nothing. I can give you my commitment that I will do what I can to lobby for a peaceful solution to the conflict to the best of my ability. Any just and lasting solution MUST be acceptable to the Tamil people. All options must therefore be on the table for discussion.

I will raise this issue at the highest levels within the Conservative Party, and with the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission. If elected, I will join the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils. In the meantime, I commit to you that I will do what I can to lobby on behalf of the people of Tamil Eelam.

Harrow Tamils meet to discuss Sri Lankan civil war

By Tristan Kirk »

A FORMER high ranking US official has called on Harrow Tamils to document their experiences in their home country as he seeks to have Sri Lankan leaders charged with genocide.

Bruce Fein, who served in the administration of Ronald Reagan as deputy attorney general, addressed a meeting of the Tamil community this weekend in Harrow.

He explained how he and fellow members of action group Tamils Against Genocide are building a case against Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, and the country's army commander Sarath Fonseka.

He told the packed Sree Ayyappan Temple, in Masons Avenue: “We want these guys to be serving time in prison. In fact under our law there is the sentence of death.

“It is a privilege to fight such a difficult but honourable battle. We want to cast light on the horrors going on in Sri Lanka, and to deter the current government from continuing the atrocities.”

Mr Fein likened the current situation in Sri Lanka to past genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia, Serbia, and Sudan, and explained that a 1,000 page indictment has been handed to the US Justice Department about the alleged alleged atrocities in the war-torn country.

He said the tactics of the Sri Lankan government, which has been embroiled in a 25-year civil war with separatist group the Tamil Tigers, is to group civilian Tamils in a safe zone and then bomb that area, killing innocent people.

He said: “They will bomb indescriminately in the Tamil area, and drive the refugees into a safe zone.

“That's exactly where they intend to bomb and kill people.”

Mr Fein asked the 200-strong audience to write an afadavit detailing their experiences in their home country, to be used as evidence to support the indictment which is currently being looked at by the US Justice Department.

He said: “Something has to be done to the government of Sri Lanka.

“You as Tamils know victims, you know what the government is doing, and the US needs to take the lead.”

The situation in Sri Lanka was brought to the world's attention a couple of weeks ago when Murukathasan Vanakulasingam, a Harrow resident, burned himself to death outside the gates of the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.

The 26-year-old committed suicide to highlight the situation in his home country, and left a ten-page letter calling on governments of the world to take notice and act against the Sri Lankan government.

Thousands are expected to attend a memorial service for Mr Vanakulasingam, but Tamil leaders are struggling to find a suitable place for it to be held.

His father is due to bring his body back home this week after the conclusion of investigations in Switzerland.

The Sri Lankan High Commission contacted the Harrow Times after we broke the story of Mr Vanakulasingam's death, and it denied a genocide is taking place in the country.

A representative said Tamil Tigers have brain washed many Tamils into following their cause, and the militants use civilians as shields which is why innocent women and children are killing during the conflict.

http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/4165883....amil_residents/

தவறுகள் இதனூடே விளங்கிக் கொள்ளப்பட வேண்டும்.

http://truth.tamilnational.com/

சொல்லிக்கொண்டு இருக்காமல் ஏதாவது உருப்படியாக செய்யப்பாருங்கோ

சொல்லிக்கொண்டு இருக்காமல் ஏதாவது உருப்படியாக செய்யப்பாருங்கோ

இது தொடர்பாக உரியவர்கள் நகர்வுகளை மேற்கொண்டிருப்பார்கள் என்று நம்புகிறோம். இந்தக் காலம்கடந்த ஞானசூனியர்களை செயலில் இறக்கும் விதமாகத் தொடர் கருத்தாய்வுகளை மேற்கொள்வதற்கான களங்களை உருவாக்குதல் பயனுடையதாக இருக்கும். தனியே தமிழர் பேரவை மட்டும் என்று நில்லாது, ஆலய, ஊடக, சட்ட, மருத்துவ, வர்த்தக அமைப்புகளும் இவர்போன்றவர்களுடன் கருத்தாடல்களை மேற்கொள்வதூடாக ஊக்குவிப்பது நன்மை பயக்குமென்பதோடு, விரைவுபடுத்தவும் வகைசெய்யலாம்.

ஒன்று பட்ட இலங்கை- ஒரு தவறு இது உண்மை என்பதை வெளி நாட்டினர் அறிய தொடங்கியதே எமது வெற்றியின் முதல் படி..

தயவு செய்து இப்படியான உரைகளை ஆவணமாக, பரப்புரைகளிற்கும் பயன்படுத்துங்கள்.. உலகின் கண்களுக்கு கொண்டு வாருங்கள்..

பலயீனமான எமது வெளி உலக பரப்புரைக்கு வலு சேருங்கள்.. ஆற விட வேண்டாம்..

சிங்கள மக்களின் பரப்புரைகளில் எதிராக சாட்சியாக பயன்படுத்துங்கள்..

இவரை மாதிர் கருத்து தெரிவத்த மற்றையவர்களின் ஆங்கில உரைகளையும் தொகுத்து ஆவணமாக்கி பலப்படுத்தங்கள்..

அண்மையில் அமெரிக்க பெண்மணி செனட்டில் கூறிய சாட்சிகள்.. இப்படி பல

இதற்கு தான் ஒரு நிரந்தர வெளினாட்டு தமிழர்குழு இயங்க வைக்க வேண்டும்.. தகவல்கள் உலக ரீதியில் பரப்ப வேண்டும்.. நளடைவில் பலயீனமாகிவிடும் சரியாக பயன்படுத்தாவிட்டால்...