Dr F.Boyle, Dr B.Fein, Mr R. Bhagwan Singh & Dr V. Suryanarayan urged the Lankan Tamils to forget differences & create public opinion for devolution!!

DeccanChronicle.com
Monday May 10, 2010
Join hands, Lankan Tamils told June 9th, 2009
By Our Correspondent Share Buzz up!Chennai, June 8:

The Sri Lankan Tamils’ rehabilitation conference, organised by International Tamil Centre here on Monday, focused on where the Eelam question would go from here. Speakers at the conference including Dr Francis Boyle, Dr Bruce Fein, Mr R. Bhagwan Singh and Dr V. Suryanara-yan urged the Lankan Tamils to forget differences and create public opinion in favour of devolution of powers to the Tamils in Lanka.

Dr Boyle, professor of international law at University of Illinois College of Law, said he was sure the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) committed genocide of Tamils from January 2009 to May 2009. He said this genocide was worse than that committed by Serbia between April 1992 and August 2005. “The genocide of over 50,000 Hindu, Christian Tamils by the Sinhala Buddhist regime should be taken up before the International Court of Justice,” he said.

Mr R. Bhagwan Singh, consulting editor, Deccan Chronicle, pointed out that it was important to forget the burden of the past and bring about unity among the Lankan Tamils to form a coalition of various Tamil democratic political outfits. “The diaspora Tamils must actively involve themselves in the post-conflict democratic process to ensure devolution of powers to Tamils,” he said.

Dr Fein, ex-deputy associate attorney general, US, suggested a pact between Tamils and the GoSL on the lines of Cyprus Pact or on the lines of China-Taiwan relationship. Political reality may not allow the idea of a separate state as of now. We can explore the relationship China and Hong Kong or China and Taiwan have, he said. “Though Tamils will be conceptually under the federal set-up of GoSL, they can be practically independent. The lobbying for such a political set-up may begin simultaneously within Lan-ka and in Washington where the attention of the international community could be attracted,” he advised.

Dr Suryanarayan, former director of South Asian Stu-dies, University of Madras, spoke. Dr Winston Panchatsaram, Ms Sudha Ragunathan and Ms Manimegalai Kannan organised the event.