அரசியல்

A group of Tamil diaspora activists who have pushed for legal action against the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), continue to claim that there is “credible evidence” of Sri Lankan Army General turned diplomat, Major General Prasanna de Silva’s involvement in alleged war crimes. Major General de Silva presently serves as defence adviser to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London, but is expected to return to the country shortly. Following the refusal of British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to declare Major General Silva persona non gratae and deny him diplomatic immunity, the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has now pushed for a judicial review of the FCO’s actions. “Of course we believe evidence against Maj. Gen. Silva is credible,” the GTF’s spokesperson, Suren Surendiran, said in an email interview last week. “However, let a court decide whether he is guilty or not guilty. By avoiding facing justice, one cannot prove his or her innocence. By running away from the UK, that’s exactly what Mr. Silva is avoiding. If he or the government has nothing to hide, they must get these charges proven wrong, rather than hiding behind immunity and complaining.”

[5 April 2012, 8:02 pm] Mr. Deputy Chairman of Committees, we are discussing in the House today, an Adjournment Motion pertaining to the Resolution passed at the UN Human Rights Council at the 19th Session last month. Before I commence my views in regard to what happened at Geneva , I think I need to outline briefly the history and the growth of the tragedy of the Tamil people in this country and the Tamil issue, to put things in proper perspective. The Sri Lankan State has been insensitive and callous in dealing with the issues pertaining to the Tamil people, particularly in the North and the East. It was only the Tamil people who stood up politically against the Sri Lankan State, though it must be acknowledged that the Tamil-speaking Muslim people in the North and the East have also had similar issues and concerns. It is the Tamil people who have shown the resilience to stand up to the Sri Lankan State. More than six decades later, after the country attained Independence , we still show that resilience. That is because we are an ancient people with our own civilization and our distinct identity. We are prepared to be integrated into the Sri Lankan nation but we cannot be and will not be assimilated.

“There are theories and there are facts. Theories vary… The facts however cannot be denied. Thousands of Tamils, old and young, and even little children, were assaulted, robbed, killed, bereaved, and made refugees. They saw their homes, possessions, vehicles, shops and factories plundered, burnt or destroyed. These people were humiliated, made to live in fear and rendered helpless…” A Cry From the Heart… What happened at the end of July 1983? (From Bishop Lakshman Wickremasinghe’s Final Pastoral Letter).  Channel 4’s “Killing Fields” director Callum Macrae wrote last week; A 12-year-old boy lies on the ground. He is stripped to the waist and has five neat bullet holes in his chest. His name is Balachandran Prabakaran and he is the son of the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. He has been shot dead. Beside him lie the bodies of five men, believed to be his bodyguards. There are strips of cloth on the ground perhaps indicating that they were tied and blindfolded before they were shot – further evidence suggesting that the Sri Lankan government forces had a systematic policy of executing many surrendering or captured LTTE fighters and leading figures, even if they were children. The problem for the Sri Lankan government is that this murder is not isolated. If it was, they could perhaps dismiss it as the act of rogue soldiers.

24 March 2012- Global Tamil Forum (GTF) commends the passing of the UN resolution on Sri Lanka, at the current Human Rights Council (HRC) session in Geneva, as a crucial first step towards accountability and justice for victims on the island. Tamils all over the world are thankful to the United States for spearheading the initiative and to all those who have made this first meaningful step possible. We are most encouraged by India for having made a significant vote in favour of addressing human rights abuses and the importance that accountability plays in facilitating just peace.  In addition to the lobbying efforts of the Tamil Diaspora, Tamils in Tamil Nadu and Malaysia, many international parliamentarians, media organisations, non-government bodies and some progressive human rights activists from the South of Sri Lanka have all contributed towards the success of this Resolution. GTF encourages all Tamil political parties in Sri Lanka to convey to the Tamil population the significance of this passing of the resolution as a constructive move towards accountability and sustainable reconciliation.

Mar 23, 2012 - Since India’s vote supporting the resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that called for promotion of reconciliation and accountability for alleged violations of International law, the predominant Delhi-centric analyses have been that India has committed an awful blunder. The most common arguments that emerged from the conventional geo-political logic, that completely failed to see the political and public sentiments in Tamil Nadu, as well as the overwhelming evidence of alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka, centred around the following: India has voted against a traditional ally-neighbour and it’s a strategic blunder vis-a-vis China and Pakistan. The chatter also highlighted that the entire Asian block voted in favour while India sided with the West, and that it will further stoke Sinhala nationalism and marginalisation of Tamils. It wasn’t surprising that most of them, except a few like Kamal Mitra Chinoy, Brahma Chellany and Manoj Joshi, spoke about the issue in the same breath as they speak about Pakistan.