A vital responsibility to remain the root & basis for the true liberation of Tamils which will end all these tragedies and sufferings.!!!

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success - Father S.J. Emmanuel,President/GTF Writes

2010-03-09

I hope this letter finds you in the best of health. I think there is no better time for us Tamils, to reflect upon the above quotes of Henry Ford.

Whilst it gives me immense pleasure in writing to you after a successful Inaugural Conference of the Global Tamil Forum at the UK Parliament in London on 24 February 2010, I am also writing at a time of great concern for most of our brothers and sisters back in Sri Lanka.

Below, I will try and set out the views of the newly formed Global Tamil Forum regarding the present humanitarian and political situation in general and regarding the Parliamentary Elections facing the

Tamils in particular. As stated in the vision and mission formulated by the GTF in its Paris meeting by 14 country- representatives, we will mobilise the Tamil Diaspora to contribute effectively, country wise and at the international level to further the cause of humanitarian and
political aspirations of the Tamils surviving in Sri Lanka.

After the brutal and treacherous killings of tens of thousands of innocent people during the final
stages of the war, after detaining 300,000 Tamils including children elders and the invalid under
inhuman conditions in concentration camps, without any international humanitarian assistance
and behind closed doors of the media, the Sri Lankan government still continues to hide the truth of this inhumane situation from the international community, arrogantly refusing to allow
international assistance to the victims. Over one hundred thousand out of the earlier camps in
Wanni are still in new camps in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna without proper rehabilitation and
without the basic facilities for living and with restricted movement.

Thousands of youth who surrendered are still held in jails without proper inquiry or legal
representations and without any contact even with the ICRC.

The Government, though declaring the war to be over on the 19th of May 2009, and promising
the international community about their efforts for rehabilitation, reconstruction and
reconciliation, it is not genuinely making such efforts but continuing its agenda of illegal
colonisation of the Tamil homeland, by colonising it with Sinhala – Buddhists from the South, all
under the cover of development thus destroying the ethnic and religious identity of the Tamil
people.

In the midst of such a plight, comes the holding of Parliamentary elections in the country. Tamils
are not at all enthusiastic about such elections. They showed it clearly at the recent Presidential
elections. This situation is worsened by two other factors. On one hand we have Tamil politicians who only aspire for power and position in the government by betraying the genuine aspirations of the Tamils. They resort to terror and corrupt practices in winning popular support. On the other hand, to our great sorrow and disappointment we are witnessing the divisions and disintegrations among the Tamil National Alliance. This will weaken our unity to speak with one
voice regarding the fundamental aspirations of the Tamils, thus enabling the oppressors and
betrayers to have their way.

It is in this situation when our brothers and sisters are suffering and enduring lack of basic
amenities for life, corruption and confusion regarding the genuine Tamil aspirations, we the
Tamil Diaspora united as the Global Tamil Forum, expresses in the first place our compassion and solidarity to our brothers and sisters still struggling to survive on the island. As a token of our solidarity and concern, we have already started supporting the Internally Displace People,
especially orphans and widows, by providing financial assistance through credible NGOs in the
Northeast. We say token, because the main responsibility of providing rehabilitation and
normalization of life for the victims of war rests with the government who are receiving massive
aid in the name of victims.

While we hunger and thirst, frightened and threatened, our brothers and sisters within the island have a vital responsibility to remain the root and basis for the true liberation of Tamils which will end all these tragedies and sufferings. Hence in casting their votes and electing members for the Parliament, we urge and exhort them not to support pseudo political leaders who betray our Tamil cause for liberation but to support candidates or parties who are loyal to the fundamental aspirations of all the Tamils within and without Sri Lanka.

Global Tamil Forum mobilising the varied resources and aspirations of the Tamil Diaspora will
support and work with Tamil political leaders and parties who on the basis of inherent right of
self-determination, adhere to the fundamental aspirations of the Tamils and courageously stand
up for the nationhood, homeland and autonomy of the Tamil people.


Yours sincerely,

Father S.J. Emmanuel
President - Global Tamil Forum


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