Tamil Diaspora's New Umbrella - The Global Tamil Forum (GTF)
Fails to Hide the Tigers' Stripes
(By: Mahinda Gunasekera)
 The Tamil Diaspora which funded the brutal terrorist
movement called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also known
as the Tamil Tigers, has regularly changed its disguise through a simple
metamorphosis involving a name change and re-arranging the deck with new
faces to hide their links to the designated terror group. After the
military action taken by the Sri Lankan forces ended in May 2009 with
the killing of the Tiger Supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran and his
lieutenants on the banks of the Nanthikadal Lagoon on the northeast
coast, the carefully laid out plans of foisting a Tamil state on Sri
Lankan soil with western support simply vanished like a bad dream that
partially disturbed the nation which woke up to face the challenge head
on. The Tamil Diaspora's plans to carve out a separate state covering
one-third of the land area spread over two-thirds of the coast extending
from the northwest to the southeast of the island for less than half the
total Tamils counting less than 4 percent resident in the region, by
force of arms, went up in smoke along with the massive stockpile of
weapons they had procured for the purpose and smuggled into the jungle
hideout of the Tiger terror machine in the Vanni.
Looking at the congregation of Tamil Diaspora
organizations which went to form the Global Tamil Forum it is quite
evident to anyone that it is merely a re-branding of the pro-Tamil Tiger
World Tamil Movement (WTM), with its goal of establishing a separate
Tamil state within the sovereign territory of the Sri Lankan nation
remaining the same. The involvement of the groups that were the main
propagandists for the Tamil Tigers such as the Canadian Tamil Congress
which took over the leadership in Canada following the arrest of the
head of the WTM and the designation of the LTTE as an international
terrorist group in September 2001 by the UN, the Norwegian Council of
Eelam Tamils, and the House of Eelam Tamils with the map of the mythical
state of "Eelam" as its logo along with similar groups in 14 countries
including Europe, USA, Australia, and New Zealand, leaves nothing to the
imagination of the observers to determine the nature of the newly
created beast in London, UK, on February 24, 2010.
In addition, bringing on Father S.J. Emmanuel, the
former Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna to lead the GTF
leaves little room to doubt the ulterior aims and motives of this body
of hate filled Diaspora Tamils that bankrolled the Tamil Tiger killing
machine with access to billions of extorted and ill gotten dollars in
their secret coffers. Father Emmanuel is well known for his
controversial statement comparing the remorseless megalomaniacal leader
of the brutal Tamil Tiger Terrorists, Velupillai Prabhakaran to Jesus
Christ who is regarded as the Great Redeemer, in an interview given to
the British national newspaper, the Independent. He has in his writings
and talks defended the terrorist activities of the LTTE and fanned the
flames of war and violence causing untold misery to thousands of
innocent lives of people from all communities in Sri Lanka. Father
Emmanuel who has been a key figure in the LTTE international network has
been using his religious cloak to stalk like a holy Tiger in the
corridors of power in Europe and South Africa to win sympathy and
support for the terrorist cause.
It is not surprising that the British who are the
architects of division in their former colonies including Sri Lanka
(Ceylon), which have led to conflicts with minorities seeking the
special privileges and power bestowed to them by the colonial regime
even after independence from Britain, hosting the GTF Conference and
giving their blessings to these misguided Tamil separatists pursuing the
break up of the sovereign state of Sri Lanka. Making a big splash at
this conference held in the Gladstone Room of the British Parliament
were David Milliband, British Foreign Secretary who made the opening
speech, whilst the Conservative 'shadow' foreign secretary William Hague
and the Liberal Democrat counterpart Ed Davey also addressed the
delegates. Other speakers included nine members of the All Party
Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG-T), two British members of the
European Parliament and about six other senior parliamentarians
including Simon Hughes and Gareth Thomas, and an ANC member of the South
African Parliament. Among the attendees were Rev. Jesse Jackson who was
introduced as a friend of President Obama and a representative of the
Royal Norwegian Government. There were greetings from the British
Conservative Party leader David Cameron and Robert Blake the current US
Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and a meeting of GTF
representatives with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Here we have the main
actors who attempted to pressure Sri Lanka to halt the military action
against the LTTE terrorists who refused to surrender to the Sri Lankan
authorities, and seek to provide safe passage and asylum for the Tamil
Tiger leaders in a foreign country to continue their attacks to
destabilize the island nation.
The Diaspora Tamils have been conducting meaningless
referenda in their host countries in the west to seek a mandate to
pursue the same objectives of a separate state called "Eelam" within the
sovereign territory of Sri Lanka as envisioned in the 'Vadukkodai
Resolution' of 1976, based on the false premise of the existence of a
traditional homeland of the Tamils in the north and east of the island
from the dawn of history. Firstly, the Diaspora Tamils who hold foreign
citizenship and domiciled outside Sri Lanka cannot have a say in the
internal affairs of Sri Lanka which can be decided only by citizens of
the land. Furthermore, historical records show that the vast majority of
the Tamils were brought to Sri Lanka by the Dutch and British
colonialists for work on tobacco, cocoa, coffee and tea plantations
which they started after destroying the ecological wealth of the country
and taking over the lands of the indigenous Sinhalese whom they
dispossessed through infamous Acts such as the Waste Lands Ordinance,
etc. Tamils first arrived as invaders but were driven back to South
India from the pockets they captured after short periods of control of
such terrain. Except for a few Tamils who arrived as settlers around the
12th century, the bulk of the Tamils came as indentured labour under the
Dutch and British colonial regimes which date back to about 350 years,
which is a far stretch to say it extends to the dawn of history which
covers 2600 years of the Sinhalese domination of the island as given in
the 'Mahavamsa', which is a chronicle of recorded history.
Now that the Tiger terrorists have been totally
defeated and their overseas financiers in the Diaspora sidelined to
their fantasy mythical land of "Eelam", the Tamils who are equal
citizens of Sri Lanka could look forward to participating in the
development of their country and building a peaceful and prosperous
nation.
Nearly 250,000 of the approximately 294,000 civilians
who were forcibly removed from their villages in the Vanni to form a
human shield for the retreating Tiger terrorists have since been
re-settled in the de-mined and re-built villages within a space of nine
months, whilst infrastructure, roads and electric power is being
extended to the region at a rapid pace. The 11,000 odd Tiger cadres that
surrendered are being provided with vocational training and being
re-habilitated into society. Tamil children who risked being abducted to
end up as cannon fodder or be brainwashed to become suicide bombers
could now look forward to receiving a proper education that will open
new vistas of opportunity for improving their lot. Those civilians who
lived under the jackboot of the Tiger terrorists can get back to
farming, fishing or other normal activities instead of digging bunkers,
trenches, and putting together landmines and other explosive devices to
kill and maim their fellow citizens belonging to different communities.
The Tamil civilians who were prevented from participating in the
democratic process and choosing their representatives have to a large
extent got back their freedom and their democratic rights, and are now
in a position to contribute to their betterment and that of their
country which they share with members of the multi-ethnic and
multi-religious society of Sri Lanka.
The free movement of people of varying backgrounds,
travelling north, south and in all directions within the island after
the collapse of the Tamil Tiger built iron curtain of deadly Mines,
Suicide Bombers, Maaveera killers, RPGs, AK47s, Mortars, Artillery Guns,
Suicide Boats, Chemical Weapons, Night Bombers, etc., is contributing to
building friendly ties and bonds in every field that is leading towards
healing of the conflicting issues and reconciliation, whilst ushering in
an era of peace and plenty for all. The Global Tamil Forum which may
wield a little political clout in an insignificant number of electorates
in western countries has little or no influence within Sri Lanka, and
will soon become redundant and fade away like the mythical dream state
of "Eelam". |
