Miliband, Your Slip Is Showing!
- Colombo’s Cold War With Britain Hots Up
By Munza Mushtaq
Miliband irks Sri Lanka
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband has never been the Sri Lankan government’s favourite, for a number of reasons. But his steadfast decision last week to address the inaugural meeting of the controversial Global Tamil Forum (GTF) in London on Wednesday appears to have only helped widen the diplomatic rift between the two nations.
A fuming Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Wednesday summoned acting British High Commissioner in Colombo Mark Gooding to the Minister’s Fort office, to protest against Miliband’s decision to address the meeting of the pro-LTTE GTF.
Bogollagama insisted that the GTF brings together under one umbrella, several LTTE front organisations based mostly in western countries, and that its objective is to create a separate state of Tamil Eelam.
Minister Bogollagama emphasised that Foreign Secretary Miliband, by participating at the GTF Meeting in London, would lend credibility to an organisation which is propagating the separatist agenda of the LTTE, and would be acting in a manner inimical to the national interest of Sri Lanka and its legitimate government.
However, despite the vehement protests from Sri Lanka, Miliband cold shouldered Colombo’s objections and went ahead with his decision to address the pro-LTTE organisation’s meeting.
A British High Commission spokesperson while confirming Miliband’s attendance at the controversial meeting, added that the British Foreign Secretary in his speech to the GTF reiterated that a peaceful political solution was the only way to produce a lasting answer to Sri Lanka’s conflict.
“It is for all Sri Lanka’s people to decide what that solution should look like. The UK firmly believes that the only way to achieve lasting and equitable peace in Sri Lanka is through genuine national reconciliation. The UK will engage with all members of the Sri Lankan community who share this goal, whether overseas or in Sri Lanka,” the spokesperson said.
This is not the first time Miliband was in the midst of an LTTE-centred controversy. In the past the Sri Lankan government, including its Defence Ministry has looked unkindly at Miliband for certain statements he made which Sri Lanka termed as ‘pro-LTTE’.
President, Global Tamil Forum, S. J. Emmanuel termed Miliband’s participation at Wednesday’s meeting as ‘great support’ for the organisation.
“The British Government, more than any in the world, knows our history and are most competent to understand our situation,” he told Times Online.
Emmanuel said that the group advocated non-violence and an international boycott of Sri Lankan goods and wanted war crimes charges brought against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other high level defence officials including former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.
Subsequent to several internet based searches carried out by The Sunday Leader, it does appear that the GTF is indeed strongly linked to the now defunct LTTE organisation. GTF explicitly recognises the concept of ‘Eelam’, which means creating a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The GTF vision published in its official website states that the organisation is an “independent international organisation which adheres to the principles of democracy and non-violence and derives its strength from grassroots organisations of the Tamil Diaspora that will work in solidarity with Tamils in Eelam and other communities in Sri Lanka to restore Tamil People’s right to self-determination and democratic self-rule in their traditional homeland in the island of Sri Lanka that would lead to self-sufficiency, sustainability and equal opportunity to its people, through its political and economic successes by engaging the international community.”
Eelam, is a term used only by the LTTE or its proxies.
The organisation charges a massive membership fee ranging from US $ 1000 to 75000, depending whether the new members belong to an organisation or is an individual member.
Incidentally, the LTTE is a banned organisation in Britain.
Brown Adds Fuel To Fire
Adding fuel to fire, Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown met with members of GTF at the House of Commons on February 24, soon after his Foreign Secretary David Miliband addressed the forum.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission in Colombo said, Brown attended the meeting with MPs from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils.“At the meeting, the Prime Minister met members of the GTF who had joined the meeting at the invitation of the MPs,” the spokesperson added.
Where did the author get the idea that GTF is charging US$1000 to $75000 for membership!? Get real….and please get your facts straight before venturing to write next time.
Oh by the way,
Your comment – “Eelam, is a term used only by the LTTE or its proxies.”
Again shows your lack of historical knowledge. Eelam is another name for Sri Lanka used by Tamils for more than two thousand years. It’s even used in many folk songs (that are used to this day) to refer to the entire island and its communities. “Tamil Eelam” is the term that exclusively identifies the North and East.
BEEP! wrong again.
S. J. Emmanuel, the Christian priest who heads this Tamil organisation is a known paedophile. He has been accused of sexually abusing young boys and it is disgusting to see that he has been placed as president of the organisation.
No wonder Dubai is where he is, sweeping the streets in that city. Illiterate and not able to go anywhere else, he went to Dubai, and writing nonsense about Fr. Emmaunel without any facts. I can write the same thing about the joker, Mahinda Rajapakse.
@Janani Barathy
Save your propaganda for the weak.
Eelam, is a term used only by the LTTE or its proxies.
What do you think EPDP stands for – Eelam People’s Democratic Party. Douglas a minister at Mahinda’s cabinet. Does that mean Mahinda is accommdating LTTE’s Tamil Eelam concept in his Mahinda Chintana? This will surely lead to loose all his Sinhalese votes!!!
Very badly written article with no reserch done on this matter. As uasual refer to all Tamils as LTTE. I suppose all Sinhalese are racists and pro Tamil genocide.I wonder if this article is to woo the government that has a hatred towards Sundayleader. What the writer did not disclose is that these Tamil men were in the hall that was booked to celebrate the work done by the murdered editor. Therefore is the Sundayleader a pro LTTE paper or confused where they stand.
Eelam is the Tamil version of Hela, a name of the island from ancient times. Many scholars believe the word Sinhala was derived from Sinha + Hela. The island was known as Hela Dheeba in Sinhala and Eela Theevu in Tamil.
The author Munza Mushtaq does not seem to know enough about Sri Lanka to be a journalist in this subject.
Most of the tamils living in western countries are racist. They want the division between sinhalese and tamils. then only they can live in those countries. They are happy to wash toilets in western countries than goin to Sri Lanka. Im a tamil living in colombo. I have no any problem. I have the same rights as sinhalese. If I have money I can buy property in any parts of sri lanka. Then why sinhalese cannot buy land in north or east? Stupid racict talking nonsens.
Fr Emmanual must be hauled before the courts for abusing young Tamil boys. Fighting for Tamil rights is one thing, but sexually molesting young Tamil boys is criminal.
hello,
What is happenening to Palitha in Canada,how much canadians are charging from GTF,
Munza Mushtaq, are you based in UK or in Srilanka? some of your facts are wrong I am sure you did not attend the meeting. There were multiracial speakers including a Buddhist Monk, and Immam. just writing a hearsay or mis-comprehesion of this historic event, you are misleading the readers.This article make you a gutter journalist. All those who were there were not Tigers as you would like to portray for the Sinhala masses and their polity.Just because Srilankan propagada mechinary has been working for past 55 years spinning out hatred against the Tamils does not give you the right to write such misleading informative article.The response by few on this article have shown their ill nature,thereby having a go on a peronal attack of the Reverend father which is revolting. In the first 30 years of post independence, Tamils only requested their fundamental rights to live as equals but, ended by facing state terrorism. The Mahavamsa Ideolgy and Sinhala polities mindset. has ruined the country and created the Tigers.The evolution of Tigers was to defend the Tamils from state terrorism but had to fight the state for 26 years becuse of the states policy of GENOCIDE of Tamils. Therefore the Genesis of Tigers was the state terrorism and intransigence to resolve the Tamil sovereignty. Having falsely grabbed the power and full sovereignty from British colonial masters on the pretext of sharing the governance with minorities slowly started with marginalisation of tamils. If the Government does not genuinely reconcile and resolve this ethnic grievences now, there is no guarantee of peace in the Island. Already the freedom is slipping out of reach even for the Sinhalese. This lunatic president and his family will bring in autocratic, fascist rule by April. The amount of lies and damn lies uttered to cover every misdemeanour is making the country a shameful place in the world. Did this President was really elected by people or did he use his powers to make himself elected? he did not appear to have a victors face, he is full of guilt. He and his supporters think that he is immortal. Natural Justice has already started to work. Soon his Karma will tie him like Fonseka. Army chief is already facing his karma. No one will or can escape the Gods punishment.
2ND LEAD (Adds links)
Sri Lanka experts silent, Wijesinha oblivious to forensic evidence
[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 February 2010, 04:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s video experts appear unable or unwilling to rebut the body of evidence presented at the Dublin tribunal, UN Rapporteur on Extra-judicial Executions Philip Alston’s report, and findings from other independent forensic analysts that all ruled as flawed the analyses by the Sri Lanka experts of the video broadcast on Channel 4 showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers summarily executing Tamil prisoners, stripped naked and hands tied behind their backs. Rajiva Wijesinha, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, continues to advance his efforts to exculpate Colombo and the perpertrators from charges of war crimes by arguing that the video is fake, a spokesperson for US-based pressure group Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) said.