TAMIL DIASPORA CONFERENCE CALLS ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO STOP THE CONTINUING GENOCIDE OF TAMILS IN SRI LANKA

Delegates at the official opening ceremony of the Tamil Solidarity Diaspora Conference in Mauritus By Subry Govender The people of Tamil Eelam, situated in the North and East of the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka, are facing annihilation at the hands of the Sri Lankan Government. This is the claim that was made at the recently-completed International Conference on Tamil Diaspora Solidarity held in Mauritius between November 8 to 10. The conference, hosted by the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation, the International Council of Tamil Eelam and the British Tamil Forum, was attended by more than 200 delegates from several countries where the Tamil people live. The countries include Mauritius; Malayasia; Singapore; South Africa; Australia; New Zealand; Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in India; the United Kingdom; United States; Canada; France; Sweden and Norway. Some of the prominent leaders who attended and graced the official opening ceremony and conference were the President of Mauritius, Mr Rajkeswur Purrya; the leader of the opposition in Mauritius, Mr Paul Raymond Berenger; Mr Soondrassen Menon Murday, president of the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation(MTTF), Mr Ganessen Annavee, president of the Union of Tamils in Mauritius; Mr Steven Pushparajah, president of the International Council of Tamil Eeelam; Mr Daniel Minienpoulle, president of Tamil Federation of Reunion; Mr Rajendrakumar G Ponnambalam, President of the Tamil National People’s Front in Sri Lanka; Mr Thiruchchoti, secretary of the International Council of Tamil Eelam; Mr Mohan Ramakrishnan, chairperson of the National Council of Canadian Tamils; Dr Paul Newman, Indian expert on the violation of Tamil rights in Sri Lanka; the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang, Malaysia, Professor Dr P Ramasamy; Mrs Kamache Doray Rajoo, a member of the Penang Provincial Assembly in Malaysia; Mr Kula Segaran, a member of the National Assmebly in Malaysia; Dr K Krishnasamy, a member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly in India. During the three-day conference, the delegates, not only highlighted the continued structural genocide of the people in Tamil Eelam, but also disclosed details of the acute discrimination suffered by Tamils in Malaysia, the denial of citizenship rights to some 300 000 Tamils by the Malaysian Government, and the situation of some 134 000 Tamil Eelam refugees in Tamil Nadu, India. The conference delegates also highlighted the passion shown by Tamil people in South Africa, Mauritius, Reunion and other diaspora countries to promote the Tamil language, culture and tradition. Speaking about the continued structural genocide being carried out by the Sri Lankan Government in Tamil Eelam, Mr G G Ponnambalam, President of the Tamil National People’s Front and General Secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, told the conference that the Sri Lankan regime was carrying out various human rights violations to “annihilate and eliminate” Tamil Eeelam. “These include the militarization of the North and East, the colonization of the North and East with Sinhala migrants from the south, land grabs of traditional Tamil land, continued murders and killings of our people, forced dispersal of our people from their homes and land, destruction of our economy, culture and education. “All this structural genocide is taking place following the massacre and genocide of 40 000 to 70 000 people during the last days of the war in 2009, the disappearance of some 147 000 people whose plight is not known, and the rapes and murders of thousands of women. “We are facing a serious problem as more than 80 000 women have been left widows following the killings of their menfolk,” said Mr Ponnambalam. “All these actions and attacks are aimed at the systematic elimination of the Tamil people as a nation.” Another delegate, Mr V. Manivannan, a senior official of the Tamil National People’s Front and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, said the Tamil people were fighting for “complete liberation”. “We as a Tamil nation are facing serious problems and the world must work out a solution so that we can have our own independent state. If this is not done, then there will never be peace,” he said. Mr S A N Rajkumar, Senior Strategic Advisor of the British Tamil Forum, said the Tamil people wanted “complete liberation”. “Tamils all over the world should support this struggle for Eelam Tamil liberation,” he said. “We have a right to self-determination and an independent state.” Mr Rajkumar told the conference that the development agenda of the Sri Lankan regime following the genocide at the end of the war in 2009 “has now become a total genocide against the Tamil people”. “The Sri Lankan regime is following other international models to occupy Tamil land in order to make the Tamil people disappear from their traditional land,” he said. “Land occupation started 20 years before 1963 and now it is being intensified through land grabs and militarization. This is aimed at politically marginalizing the Tamil people and to demographically change our Tamil homeland.” Dr Paul Newman, a Kerala-based expert on Sri Lanka, said a number of countries should also bear responsibility for the Sri Lankan genocide against the Tamils in 2009. “These countries include India, United States, Russia and China because all of them provided arms and ammunition to the Sri Lankan regime,” he said. “The Sri Lankan President, Rajapakse, his brother, other military leaders and Pranab Mukherjee of India must stand trial for the genocide against the Tamils.” The conference, in one of several resolutions, unanimously resolved to call on the international community to conduct an “international independent investigation” into the genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil people. The resolution stated that the International Conference of the Tamil Diaspora delegates called upon the international community to set up a transitional administration in the Tamil homeland, which is situated in the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka, in order to stop the ongoing structural genocide. “We the ICTD call upon the international community to conduct a UN-sponsored referendum among the Tamils living in the island of Sri Lanka and in the Diaspora. “We the Tamil people call upon the international community to recognise that the Tamils in the Island of Sri Lanka are a nation based on their right to self-determination. “Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka should be represented in the UN and other international forums and organizations.” The delegates also unanimously resolved that the Tamil language and cultural identity bound the diaspora Tamils together. In this regards the conference resolved that: “Tamils are a distinct people with a unique language and culture. It is imperative that the Tamils secure a Nation state to nurture and advance their language, culture and values. “Though Tamils live in many parts of the world, there is no political and international representation at the multi-national forums. In some parts of the world, Tamil culture, Language and existence are under threat. This was manifested after the massacre of Mullivaaikal and the dismantlement of the Tamil Defacto state. “A just war for the defence of the Right of Self Determination defined in the United Nations Charter and in the Declaration Universal of the Human Rights, ended with the killing of 40 000 Tamils, according to the United Nations Report which also says it might be more. But still 146 679 people are still missing. “Hence Tamils should explore a legal framework to protect Tamil identity and way of life.” It was further resolved that in pursuit for Global Tamil Renaissance and the defence of the Tamil people’s rights and dignity, the conference has decided to set up an International Working Group. “This group will in addition work towards the establishment of coercive, progressive and secular global Tamil community, regardless of geographical boundaries.” The resolutions adopted at the conference seemed to have had an effect on the Mauritian Prime Minister, Mr Navichandra Ramgoolam. Two days after the conference he announced that he would not be attending the CHOGM summit in Sri Lanka because of his concerns over the human rights violations against the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of South African President, Jacob Zuma, who chose to attend the summit despite calls by human rights organisations, such as the Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka, that South Africa should also boycott the CHOGM summit in Sri Lanka to express its disgust at the violation of the human rights of the Tamil people.