Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

united kingdom
& the Struggle for Tamil Eelam

UK Foreign Minister Lord Mark Malloch Brown meets British Tamils
Three Reports - One Meeting...

L-R: Hon Robert Evans MEP, Rt. Hon Lord Mark Malloch Brown - Deputy Foreign Secretary and Foreign & Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa Asia and the UN, Harrow West Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Rt. Hon Gareth ThomasLeader of the Association of Tamil Councillors Thaya Idaikadar, Member of Parliament for Leicester (East) and the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Rt. Hon Keith Vaz.

17 September 2008

1. British FM meets Tamil expats in London  Report by TamilNet, 17 September 2008
2. Rowdy mayhem at the meeting addressed by the British Foreign Minister  Report by  Sri Lanka Guardian, 16 September 2008
3. Meeting addressed by Rt Hon Lord Malloch Brown (Compiled with BTF Press Report) - Report by Jaya BT E-Mail, 17 September 2008  - "Lord Malloch Brown in his introductory speech said that it is enormously important that Ministers like Gareth and he should have more of such opportunities to understand the concerns of people. It is therefore very appropriate that they met with the Tamil community considering the current situation in Sri Lanka for the Tamils."

Comment by tamilnation.org  We may be wrong, but a fair reading of the responses by Rt Hon Lord Malloch Brown suggests to us that the British Government appears to be following an approach not dissimilar  to that mapped out in the Report by  International Crisis Group in  February 2008 -   (an International Crisis Group with Board Members Former United Kingdom Cabinet Minister, Lord Patten of Barnes, US Ambassador Thomas R Pickering and former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans) -

"So long as there is widespread support for separatism and militancy in the diaspora, peace in Sri Lanka will be hard to come by... Stronger political and legal pressure should be applied to the LTTE outside Sri Lanka...Western governments’ policies on Sri Lanka should consciously include attempts to open up political space within their Tamil communities for non-Tiger political voices. Those governments with significant Tamil populations should engage representative civil society groups directly, ... (whilst) actively guarding against any intimidation of anti-Tiger Tamil groups... The Tigers should also be required to take some real steps towards transformation before being accepted as a negotiation partner. Such moves, however, may well require new leaders (of the LTTE). Peace supporters should consider setting a deadline for renunciation of a separate state, after which they would actively pursue prosecutions of current LTTE leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.... Countries should develop step-by-step benchmarks for progress towards revoking the terrorist designation – in part to encourage Prabhakaran’s removal..." 

As we have pointed out elsewhere, it is unfortunate  that for the distinguished members of the International Crisis Group, the roadblocks to peace were 'separatism' and 'militancy' - not the decades long oppressive rule by a permanent and alien Sinhala majority within the confines of a single state - an oppressive rule that had led to the struggle for an independent Tamil Eelam and, in the last resort to Tamil armed resistance. Wisdom is not always a function of gross national product and western governments.... may want to recognise that the Tamil people are not stupid. The struggle for Tamil Eelam is not about what the LTTE may have done or not done. The struggle for Tamil Eelam is about the democratic right of the people of Tamil Eelam to govern themselves in their homeland - nothing less and nothing more.

And, here let us be clear. Self determination, if it is to mean anything at all, must mean exactly what it says -  self determination i.e. a people have the right to themselves freely choose their political status and that includes the right to secede, if they so choose. A people cannot be told: "We support your struggle for self determination. You have the right to freely choose your political status, but you may  exercise it only in the way we tell you i.e. within the territorial entity of the existing state".

 We cannot help feeling that Rt Hon Lord Malloch Brown was somewhat disingenuous when he declared -

"We need to recognise the reality that Britain is a long way away from Sri Lanka but we have certain means and tools available to us to influence but it is beyond our powers to force a solution to this problem."

After all, distance did not  prevent his Government from proscribing the LTTE although no one has suggested that the LTTE posed a threat to the security of the United Kingdom or that the LTTE  has at any time engaged in any activity against the United Kingdom. The Tamil people are not devoid of wisdom. They know that the proscription of the LTTE is directed to weaken the LTTE and render it more pliable.

"Countries should develop step-by-step benchmarks for progress towards revoking the terrorist designation – in part to encourage Prabhakaran’s removal."  Report by  International Crisis Group in  February 2008 -   (an International Crisis Group with Board Members, Former United Kingdom Cabinet Minister, Lord Patten of Barnes, US Ambassador Thomas R Pickering and former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans)

The Tamil people also know that if the armed resistance to the genocidal onslaught by a murderous Sinhala nationalism fails, they will be left only with Tamil pleaders, supplicants and collaborators who may gain some crumbs from their master's table for themselves (and their next of kin) but will do nothing to oust the alien Sinhala army from the Tamil homeland and prevent continued alien Sinhala rule of the people of Tamil Eelam.

And as for the concern of Rt Hon Lord Malloch Brown that  'fragmenting nation states will make it difficult to sustain international affairs' the words of  Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, in Self Determination & the Future of Democracy come to mind -

"...Let us accept the fact that states have lifecycles similar to those of human beings who created them. The lifecycle of a state might last for many generations, but hardly any Member State of the United Nations has existed within its present borders for longer than five generations. The attempt to freeze human evolution has in the past been a futile undertaking and has probably brought about more violence than if such a process had been controlled peacefully...Restrictions on self-determination threaten not only democracy itself but the state which seeks its legitimation in democracy"

The argument that to accord international recognition to separate national formations will lead to instability in the world order is not dissimilar to that which was urged a hundred years ago against granting universal franchise. It was said that to empower every citizen with a vote was to threaten the stability of existing state structures and the ruling establishment. But the truth was that it was the refusal to grant universal franchise which threatened stability . Self determination is not a de stabilising concept. Self determination and democracy go hand in hand. If democracy means the rule of the people, by the people, for the people, then the principle of self determination secures that no one people may rule another - and herein, perhaps, lies its enduring appeal. And we may need to attend more carefully to the words of of Yelena Bonner (widow of Andrei Sakharov) that "the inviolability of a country's borders against invasion from the outside must be clearly separated from the right to statehood of any people within a state's borders."

There may also be a need to pay closer attention to something which Tamil leader Nadarajah Thangathurai said from the dock in February 1983 -

"Allegations are made that we are asking for separation, that we are trying to divide the country. When were we undivided after all? Our traditional land captured by the European invaders has never been restored to us. We have not even mortgaged our land at any time to anyone in the name of one country. Our land has changed hands off and on under various regimes, and that is what has happened. We have yet to reach a stage when we can have our land for ourselves.What we ask for is not division but freedom. "

That Nadarajah Thangathurai was murdered a few months later in Welikade Prison whilst in the custody of the Sri Lanka government lends perhaps additional significance to that which he said - and serves to expose the machinations of a Sinhala nation which dares not speak its own name and which seeks to masquerade as as a 'multi ethnic' Sri Lankan 'civic nation'  (albeit with a Sinhala lion flag, Buddhism as the State religion and an unrepealed Sinhala Only law).

Again, Nadarajah Thangathurai himself was not saying anything new. The Gandhian Tamil leader, S.J.V.Chelvanayagam Q.C. said it all in 1975 -

"Throughout the ages the Sinhalese and Tamils in the country lived as distinct sovereign people till they were brought under foreign domination. It should be remembered that the Tamils were in the vanguard of the struggle for independence in the full confidence that they also will regain their freedom. We have for the last 25 years made every effort to secure our political rights on the basis of equality with the Sinhalese in a united Ceylon."

"It is a regrettable fact that successive Sinhalese governments have used the power that flows from independence to deny us our fundamental rights and reduce us to the position of a subject people. These governments have been able to do so only by using against the Tamils the sovereignty common to the Sinhalese and the Tamils."

"I wish to announce to my people and to the country that I consider the verdict at this election as a mandate that the Tamil Eelam nation should exercise the sovereignty already vested in the Tamil people and become free."

We have said it before - and we say it again. An independent Tamil Eelam is not negotiable. But an independent Tamil Eelam will negotiate with an independent Sri  Lanka the terms on which two independent states may associate with one another in equality and in freedom. Sovereignty, after all, is not virginity.

Said that, all this is not unknown to those at the helm of international affairs today. The harsh reality lies elsewhere.

" The denial by international actors of their conflicting strategic interests in Sri Lanka (and in the Indian Ocean region) draws a veil over the real issues that any meaningful conflict resolution process in the island will need to address. We cannot ostrich like bury our collective heads in the sand - and, to mix the metaphor, ignore the elephant in the room.....Whilst the goal of securing peace through justice is loudly proclaimed by the international actors, real politick leads them to deny the justice of the Tamil Eelam struggle for freedom from alien Sinhala rule. The harsh reality is that on the one hand international actors are concerned to use the opportunity of the conflict in the island to advance each of their own strategic interests - and on the other hand, Sri Lanka seeks to use the political space created by the geo strategic triangle of US -India-China ( for US read tri laterals - US, EU & Japan) in the Indian Ocean region, to buy the support of all three  for the continued rule of the people of Tamil Eelam by a permanent Sinhala majority within the confines of  one state. The record shows that Sinhala Sri Lanka seeks to engage in a 'balance of power' exercise of its own by handing over parts of the island (and the surrounding seas) to India, US and China. We have India in the Trincomalee oil farm, at the same time we have a Chinese coal powered energy plant in Trincomalee; we have a Chinese project for the Hambantota port, at the same time we have the attempted naval exercises with the US from Hambantota (to contain Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean); we have the grant of preferred licenses to India for exploration of oil in the Mannar seas, at the same time we have a similar grant to China and a 'road show' for  tenders from US and UK based multinational corporations;  meanwhile we have the continued presence of the Voice of America installations in the island and the  ten year Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) was signed by the United States and Sri Lanka on 5 March 2007...." - The International Dimensions of the Conflict in Sri Lanka 

Here, we are not unmindful that  sometimes, the Tamil response to the international community, takes on  the characteristics of the teen age girl's response in the pebble story.

"...It seems that we avoid confronting the international community for fear of provoking its ire. We avoid seeking an open dialogue with the international community on its own strategic imperatives and the true rationale for its actions. We resort to subterfuge. We say that our way is the 'anuku murai' - the diplomatic way to 'approach' issues. We claim that  this is the effective way. But has this 'anuku murai' succeeded?  Again the result of not calling a spade a spade is that we confuse our own people. We confuse our people by leading them to believe that the international community is without sufficient 'cleverness' to respond to our subterfuge with its own subterfuge and advance its own agenda. We confuse our people by leading them to believe that all that needs to be done is to wake up the international community to the facts and the justice of our cause and all will be well. This is the limitation of our discourse. It is a limitation that we need to transcend. Diplomacy may be the art of lying without getting caught but a struggle for freedom is not..." Black Pebbles & White Pebbles

It is not that each of one us should not tirelessly, fearlessly and openly lobby against the genocidal onslaught launched by Sri Lanka on the people of Tamil Eelam. We must. But at the same time, we must equally tirelessly, fearlessly and openly espouse the lawfulness and justice of the Tamil Eelam struggle for freedom from alien Sinhala rule. It is not either or - it is both. The charge is genocide - but the struggle is for freedom."  And we may want to keep in the forefront of our minds the question - who is lobbying whom and to what end?

---

British FM meets Tamil expats in London
[TamilNet, 17 September 2008 ]

During a community meeting attended by over one thousand British Tamils, UK Foreign Minister Lord Mark Malloch Brown, said:

"UK Government believes that minorities in any country must have their right to practice the fullest and free to expression of self determination. We are extremely concerned about how this government behaves and treats the Tamil community, and we are using all the means available to us to press the government to do otherwise."

The meeting was organised by the Harrow West Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Rt. Hon Gareth Thomas to discuss the current situation in Sri Lanka with his Tamil constituents.

This meeting was also attended by Hon Robert Evans Member of European Parliament for London, Member of Parliament for Leicester (East) and the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee Rt. Hon Keith Vaz and Harrow Councillor and Leader of the Association of Tamil Councillors Thaya Idaikadar.

He said that both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were responsible for breaking of the Cease Fire Agreement and it is wrong to blame just the one side for the breakdown. Commenting on the situation in the East, Mr Brown said, on one level the situation is secure and peaceful than before, but he does not see political reconciliation that will bring everyone to the democratic political process.

Commenting on the current situation, Mr Brown said, "both sides should allow access to the international humanitarian workers to help the people of North. We are extremely concerned. We have through the Secretary General of the United Nations and our High Commissioner made representations to both parties to ensure free and safe access remain opened for humanitarian workers to assist the people of North.

"British Government's overriding position is that there is no military solution to this problem in Sri Lanka. This problem should be resolved by finding a political solution." This message was relayed by me to the President, his brother the Defence Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Chairman of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC). UK government funded a trip of members of the APRC to visit Northern Ireland to see for them at first hand of conflict resolution. The aim was to aid the thinking so that they will come with innovative solutions and to re-start the political process.

On harassment of journalists, he said he believes journalists should be given access to the theater of war. "We are constantly pressing through the EU and the UN to protect against these abductions and disappearances," Brown said, adding, "We do not have the right to tell any country how to rule or run their country. All we can do is with our international partners we can press for better governance and compliance to human rights laws."

Hon Robert Evans Member of European Parliament related his experiences during his various visits to Sri Lanka. He was non-apologetic for his team's press statement after their recent visit to Sri Lanka as an EU Delegation. He explained the various excuses that the GoSL gave to delay and possibly shorten their trip to the East of Sri Lanka where he was scheduled to meet Pillayan, the new Chief Minister and spend time exploring the ground situation without any government agents present. He said that they were amazed how the government claims on the one hand that the East has been 'cleared' yet the delegation was not allowed to travel to Batticaloa (East of Sri Lanka) due to security problems. In the end, the delegation never went to the East of Sri Lanka at all.

He also said how he found the LTTE running a very efficient general administration and hospitals within the Vanni area soon after Tsunami struck Sri Lanka

The meeting came to a close soon after 8:30 p.m.

View of the meeting from the balcony.
 

Rowdy mayhem at the meeting addressed by the British Foreign Minister 
16 September 2008, London, Sri Lanka Guardian

The British Minister Lord Malloch-Brown who is responsible for South Asian affairs experienced ugly scenes of rowdy behaviour by the LTTE men at a meeting held at Zoroastrian Centre, 440 Alexandra Avenue, Harrow, Middlesex HA2 9T facilitated by Hon Garath Thomas MP on 15 September 2008.

The LTTE men were not in a mood to listen to his balanced speech reflecting the position of the British government on Sri Lanka. The Minister was critical of both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. He said the British government is putting international pressure on Sri Lanka to adhere to human rights standards and to find a solution to the conflict by amicable means. He stressed both Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are responsible for the break up of the ceasefire agreement and that the British government is keen to see resumption of talks to resolve the conflict.

During question time, LTTE men raised barrage of questions focussed on espousing the cause of the LTTE. The British Minister responded to all the questions, some of which were unpalatable to the LTTE men. They jeered and hackled the Minister. But the Foreign Minister was very assertive on British government stand on Sri Lanka.

The LTTE men asked the Minister about the possibility of de-proscribing the LTTE as a terrorist group in the UK. He responded by saying that there are provisions in the Terrorism Act for the LTTE to appeal on the decision, which they have not done since its proscription in 2001.

The LTTE gangsters were specially brought into the hall to intimidate those who are critical of the LTTE. Leader of the Tamil Democratic Congress R Jayadevan was surrounded by twenty odd violent gangsters to ensure he does not raise any questions in the meeting. Minister Garath Thomas had to intervene when one LTTE gangster forcefully grabbed the seat of R Jayadevan prior to commencement of the meeting.

At the conclusion of Lord Malloch Brown’s speech, one LTTE gangster stood in front of the Minister and shouted: ‘Tigers thirst is a separate state’ and ‘Pirabakaran is our leader’. Section of the pro LTTE crowd repeated the slogans in high voice which increased the tensions in the hall.

When Lord Malloch Brown left the hall R Jayadevan and his friends too followed him. When Jayadevan attempted to engage in talk with the Minister outside the hall, the LTTE men attempted to push him out and he was assaulted in front of the two British Ministers by one of the LTTE goons. The situation was leading to mayhem and the Foreign Minister was lead out of the building safely.

The meeting proceeded following the departure of the British Foreign Minister. Hon Robert Evens MEP spoke in length about his visit to Sri Lanka. Whilst his speech was on, a note was delivered to Hon Garath Thomas MP by his Secretary. He uttered something to Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP seated next to him. At the end of Mr Evans speech, Mr Garath Thomas announced that the meeting has come to a close. The LTTE goons heckled that they wanted to hear the speech of Mr Keith Vaz. But the Minister Garath Thomas was not in a mood to subscribe to the pressure, and all were asked to leave the building immediately.

Statement of R Jayadevan:

I was accompanied by the Chairman of Redbridge Tamil Association, T Yogarajah and we occupied the second row seats. Few minutes later, approximately 15 aggressive men were directed by [.......] a pro-LTTE activist who was a party to my incarceration and imminent death by the LTTE in Vanni in 2005. The youngsters were very threatening and were saying (quote):

* These chaps behind are bum suckers of Rajapakese and Anandasangaree.
* Let them open their mouth and ask any questions, we will break their bones.
* They are paid by the Sri Lankan government. (Other rudimentary and vulgar statements are not included here.)

Prior to the commencement of the meeting Rt Hon Gareth Thomas MP went around and met all the known faces in the hall. Being in the front end, I was the first few to be greeted. I moved close to him from my seat and asked him whether he will be able to table two questions to the Foreign Minister. As I had discussed this with Hon Robert Evans MEP already, he asked me to give it him.

When I returned to my seat, I was confronted by an unruly element brought to intimidate us, who was occupying my seat. When I tried to explain to him that it was my seat, he refused and said ‘it is not a reserved seat’. I approached Mr Garath Thomas and his intervention resulted in him vacating the seat. Before leaving, the chap spat on the seat and on the floor and this was brought to the attention of the Harrow West MP by the Co-ordinator of Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) Mr V Ramarajah. Mr Garath Thomas had to intervene again and removed the trouble maker from the scene. Mr Ramarajah too was subject to unruly and threatening remarks by the aggressive men.

When the meeting was in progress, the elements brought in to harass us continued to make threatening and vituperative statements...

When Hon Robert Evans took his seat while the Rt Hon Lord Malloch Brown was speaking, I took the opportunity to walk up and hand over my prepared questions to him. When I returned to my seat, I was threatened for going forward by one of the chaps. He was saying ‘who asked you to go there’.

When the Foreign Minister ended his speech, the situation became highly tensed in the hall and in particular the chaps seated around me behaved in a very threatening manner. One chap went forward and made pro-LTTE slogans which were repeated by many in the hall.

Unfortunately, my two questions given to Mr Garath Thomas were disregarded. The issues I touched on were about reaching a by-partisan agreement between the government and the opposition to passage through constitutional amendments to politically resolve the conflict and raising the issue of opening the doors of the International War Crimes Tribunal to hear war crimes charges against the government, the LTTE and other armed groups.

We realised a threatening situation around us and decided to leave the hall by following the Foreign Minister. Whilst we were on the way, few LTTE sympathisers were making threatening comments. One elderly member belonging to the International Tamil Foundation angrily said: ‘Who the bloody hell are you to come here’.

When I went out of the building, I wanted to talk to the Foreign Minster. When I went near him [.......] suddenly and forcefully butted in between us and attempted to push me to the side to prevent me reaching the Minister. However, I was able to proceed forward and was able to introduce myself to the Minister and spoke a few words. Mr Garath Thomas too was responding to my comment. At that time, I received a blow on my chest from a person standing close to the Minister. Another person confronted me face to face to prevent me from speaking and grabbed my tummy and was pushing me from the scene. I was able to release myself from his hold and went out of the building with my colleagues. I was able to speak to the Minister only when I went out of the building.

I saw a man being taken away by the police from the scene.

Three of us got into the vehicle to leave the place. While leaving an object hit the vehicle thrown by someone assembled outside the hall.

Lord Malloch Brown in his introductory speech said that it is enormously important that Ministers like Gareth and he should have more of such opportunities to understand the concerns of people. It is therefore very appropriate that they met with the Tamil community considering the current situation in Sri Lanka for the Tamils.

He said that he was in Sri Lanka in July and he went there for two reasons (1) to see for himself on how the situation was evolving and (2) because he was criticised in the government circles in Colombo for his strong statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in March this year protesting against the human rights violations of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). This resulted in an invitation given by both the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapakshe and the Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.

He said that both sides (the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE) were party to breaking of the Cease Fire Agreement and it is wrong to blame just the one side for the breakdown. The government has won a significant victory in the East of Sri Lanka and has held an election with partial participation of some political parties due to the security situation. “I wanted to see the local government myself”. On the one level, the situation is secure and peaceful than before. However, he did not see political reconciliation that will bring everyone to the democratic political process.

In the north however where the fighting is heaviest is resulting in large numbers of displacement of people. The government’s order for United Nations and other INGOs (International Non Governmental Organisations) to leave this area is leaving the international aid efforts being severely affected and for the international community unable to independently verify the real situation on the ground. Our High Commissioner in Colombo has made repeated representations to the GoSL seeking assurances for free flow of food and medical supplies to the people of North. Both sides should allow access to the international humanitarian workers to help the people of North. “We are extremely concerned”. We have through the Secretary General of the United Nations and our High Commissioner made representations to both parties to ensure free and safe access remain opened for humanitarian workers to assist the people of North.

British Government’s overriding position is that there is no military solution to this problem in Sri Lanka. This problem should be resolved by finding a political solution. This message was relayed by me to the President, his brother the Defence Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Chairman of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC). UK government funded a trip of members of the APRC to visit Northern Ireland to see for them at first hand of conflict resolution. The aim was to aid the thinking so that they will come with innovative solutions and to re-start the political process.

We believe people of Tamil areas to have political self-government within a united Sri Lanka. This comment prompted a few in the audience to abruptly stop clapping that almost started. The Minister joked looking at the direction where the clapping originated and said “great sentence except for the last couple of words” meaning that the audience did not appreciate the ‘united Sri Lanka’ bit of his statement.

As part of European Union the UK government believes that minorities in any country must have their right to practice the fullest and possible expression of self determination.

We will urge the GoSL to re-start the political dialog. We believe both sides were responsible for the breakdown of the Cease Fire Agreement. Both sides lost the trust of each other. Both sides should make gestures and concessions to be able to re-start the political process.

Lord Malloch Brown’s speech was followed by questions and answers. Sample of the questions and answers in summary are given below. Most times, more than three or four questions were answered at the same time.

1. International Governments including my government Britain, keep saying that there got be a negotiated settlement. For us, lay people, this soft, and behind the scene diplomacy isn’t working. If anything, things have got worse for us Tamils – Government of Sri Lanka has become more hard-line. Do you have any evidence to suggest that your approach is working? And why do you keep carrying on the same path, whilst you know it isn’t working?

2. Approximately, 40,000 British Tamils stood in pouring rain for ‘Pongku Thamil’ (Uprising of Tamils) day at Roehampton Vale sports ground and demanded that our Government should recognise Tamils right for separate homeland in Sri Lanka. Who do you think that the British Government should listen to, British Tamils - your own citizens, or a failed state that is tens of thousands of miles away?

3. Could you please spell out the position of the British Government with regard to the elections in the East? Does Britain regard that Eastern election as legitimate? And does the British Government recognise the Para-military administration that is terrorising the population in the East with guns and abductions?

Firstly I understand your anger towards the government of Sri Lanka. But we must also acknowledge that it is a democratically elected government and therefore it is not an authoritarian government to be classified as a failed state in that sense. It is not like this government is unpopular in the country. It is very popular in large parts of the country. Sadly it is not so in the Tamil parts of the country.

It is a democratically elected government which has chosen to prosecute a military campaign against a separatist group. We need to recognise the reality that Britain is a long way away from Sri Lanka but we have certain means and tools available to us to influence but it is beyond our powers to force a solution to this problem.

There are certain persuasion tools if you like, for example the European Union has GSP+ which Sri Lanka enjoys as a trade preference. This is a very powerful tool. If Sri Lanka wants to continue to enjoy this benefit then they need to implement all of the 27 human rights covenants and conventions. We are pressing Sri Lanka through the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and we are using all these channels to press the GoSL but there are no easy answers to this problem. We are doing all what we can do.

All we can do is force the resumption of political talks. We can by pressing a democratically elected government to deal with its minorities in a proper way.

4. You were one of those who were instrumental in getting the Government of Sri Lanka evicted from the powerful 47 member UN Human Rights Council. We as Tamils will always be grateful for your commanding speech at the Council meeting in March 2008. However, since then there have been many human rights violations that have taken place in Sri Lanka. You have been pressing for a permanent presence of UNHRC office in Sri Lanka. We all know that the present government has formally rejected that idea. What further actions do you intend taking along with the Commonwealth member states and the European Union to condemn the rejection and enforce such an office in Sri Lanka?

5. Withdrawing the GSP Plus offers a great opportunity for UK to demonstrate its public dismay to the Government of Sri Lanka of Sri Lanka’s appalling human rights track record and its inability to implement the main 27 international conventions & covenants. EU withdrew GSP plus from Republic of Belarus in June 2007 for lack of evidence of its full implementation of the relevant conventions of the International Labour Organisation. Could you give us an assurance that Britain, along with its EU partners, will take this issue seriously and demonstrate our dismay to Government of Sri Lanka when GSP Plus is due for renewal later this year?

6. You went to Eastern Sri Lanka and shook hands with Pillayan who is still a leader of an armed Para-military group. The Tamil Diaspora was very disappointed with that act of yours. You may wish to defend yourself saying you need to meet everyone to bring about a lasting peace in Sri Lanka. If that is the case, why did you not feel it is important to meet Prabakaran the leader of LTTE and get his views? Is it not the time to lift the ban on LTTE to create an atmosphere to facilitate peace talks bearing in mind the LTTE has never broken any laws in Europe, USA or Canada in short anywhere in the world?

We have been pushing for a permanent presence of the UNHRC office in Sri Lanka. We will continue to push for this through the new head of UNHRC as we did through her predecessor just as we press for firm action against child soldiers’ issue. We will keep going on that.

We certainly take the GSP+ issue very seriously. On the one hand it costs Sri Lankan workers their jobs but on the other hand GSP+ is a trade concession, preference granted to certain countries in return for those countries’ compliance of certain human rights covenants and conventions. The ball is in the Sri Lankan court to demonstrate that they are in compliance of all those conventions and covenants. Both Gareth and I as Trade Minister and Foreign Minister have already shared this view with our Sri Lankan counter-parts, even recently. They have to do a lot to secure the extension of GSP+. It will be a collective EU decision.

Regarding Pillayan, he was a man involved in acts of terrorism previously and it is a real issue about our approach to him should be. Yes he is been elected in a flawed election. Nevertheless an election it is. There were security problems for all parties to participate. However he is an elected local government leader and on those grounds that I met him. Meeting somebody doesn’t in anyway mean endorsing their position. If it did we couldn’t meet a lot of leaders around the world.

As to why I didn’t meet the LTTE leader Prabakaran, for one he is not exactly easy to find under the current circumstances. Also he is a leader of a proscribed organisation. We will maintain contacts, such contacts to advance peace. This government fully supports proscribing the LTTE.

7. United Nations estimates that over 250,000 internally displaced people in Wanni which is the LTTE controlled area. In the first 15 days of August over 38,000 people were displaced. Government of Sri Lanka has ordered the humanitarian agencies to withdraw from Wanni. What is the British Government doing about this unfolding tragedy without saying that “we, the British Government is doing all what we can by pressing the Government of Sri Lanka to send food and medical supplies” - When is any British aid going to reach Wanni?

8. When Kosova became an independent nation you are on record for saying Kosova is an exception? Could you please explain how the Tamil’s case for independence is different to the one of the Kosovan’s?

9. In the entire history of the world, only 3 countries have used aerial bombardment against its own citizens – Soviet Union in 1920 to 1930 to suppress internal decent. Sadam Hussein against the Kurds in Iraq and Indonesia against the people of East Timor. Sri Lanka is the fourth. How is the British Government protesting against such a violation of human rights of the Tamils? Why isn’t the current government doing what the John Major’s government did for the Kurds by creating a safe haven?

10. At various points in the past our government has implemented sanctions against various governments such as Zimbabwe, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan etc. to condemn and to register protest. How many more Tamil lives have to be lost and how many more Tamils have to be displaced before Her Majesty’s Government implement sanctions against the Government of Sri Lanka? When will it be the right time to implement sanctions against Sri Lanka?

British aid and British humanitarian assistance will continue. Humanitarian Assessment Team has been dispatched to assess access routes and the ground situation.

As Foreign Minister I come across all sorts of minorities in different parts of the world wanting to cease existence with the majority and form self government. We cannot support every one of them as fragmenting nation states will be difficult to sustain international affairs.

Right now we have been very clear in supporting a large measure of self government within a united country. If ultimately more to happen and the Tamil Region is to become an independent state we will support that only if the whole of Sri Lanka felt that it is the best way to sustain peace between the two communities. We will not do it against the will of the majority Sri Lankans.

Regarding indiscriminate aerial bombardment, we have been pressing on human rights violations by the GoSL. We will through the UN Secretary General, through UN Human Rights Council and through the GSP+ mechanism we will keep the human rights issue live until it is resolved. We are determined to put international pressure on either side to ensure human rights are not violated.

At this point Rt. Hon Gareth Thomas MP announced some details of what the Assessment Team will do. He said that by speaking to NGOs, INGOs, UN and ICRC the team will find out the real ground situation. From their report is what my department will decide how best to channel supplies and funds to assist the internally displaced people of Vanni.

11. If you apply the same principles that were applied to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation to GoSL, do you agree that you will have to proscribe the GoSL as a terrorist state?

12. What do think that the proscription of the LTTE has achieved with regard to the conflict in Sri Lanka? Do you agree that time has come to re-visit the issue of proscription?

13. If you agree that the government of Sri Lanka was wrong to unilaterally withdraw from Cease Fire Agreement then please tell us what have you done to put that right? And what has been the result of your actions?

14. Did you know that 95% of Tamils voted in 2004, for LTTE as their sole representatives?

We are extremely concerned about how this government behaves and treats the Tamil community. We are using all the means available to us to press the government to do otherwise. However the current government remains as a democratically elected government in power at the moment. Government of Sri Lanka was elected through a ballot box.

It is not for Britain to solve the problem. Just like in Zimbabwe, both parties within the country with the help of the big regional neighbour like the Republic of South Africa have to solve their own problems.

Since 2001 when the LTTE was proscribed there has been only a single attempt to de-proscribe in October 2007. This was rejected by the Home Secretary in February 2008. Appeal against this decision is possible.

As far as I know the LTTE has never stood for a democratic election. (People shouted TNA’s mandate...TNA’s mandate)

15. What is Britain doing about the internally displaced people and why can’t Britain take this matter through the UN Security Council?

16. As journalists are prohibited by the government from reporting from the Vanni and other parts, did you realise that the information that you are getting is at least 6 months out of date. As a journalist who worked both in Sri Lanka and in the UK I am asking what if any the UK Government has done to prevent journalists being killed, abducted and arrested?

17. Britain played a major role in proscribing the LTTE within the European Union. It is a well known fact. Britain with its imperial past which created this turmoil in Sri Lanka. You created this problem by merging more than one kingdom that existed into a single country. Now you better sort it!

It is a judgment that the British Government has made to deal with this issue through the UNHRC rather than the UN Security Council. It is a tragedy that such a large number of people have been internally displaced. Through UN, ICRC and others we are seeking from both parties to ensure safe passage and access for supplies of food and medicines to reach the affected people.

You are absolutely right that there should be access given to journalists. We are constantly pressing through the EU and the UN to protect against these abductions and disappearances.

We do not have the right to tell any country how to rule or run their country. All we can do is with our international partners we can press for better governance and compliance to human rights laws.

At this point Rt. Hon Gareth Thomas MP declared that the Foreign Minister will be leaving now to engage in other official matters. Just when the two Ministers were coming down the stage stairs, a young Tamil stood in front of the crowd and chanted “‘Pirabakaran is our leader’”.. “Tigers thirst is a separate state’”... The crowd repeated these slogans very loudly and clearly.

Hon Robert Evans Member of European Parliament related his experiences during his various visits to Sri Lanka. He was non-apologetic for his team’s press statement after their recent visit to Sri Lanka as an EU Delegation. He explained the various excuses that the GoSL gave to delay and possibly shorten their trip to the East of Sri Lanka where he was scheduled to meet Pillayan, the new Chief Minister and spend time exploring the ground situation without any government agents present. He said that they were amazed how the government claims on the one hand that the East has been ‘cleared’ yet the delegation was not allowed to travel to Batticaloa (East of Sri Lanka) due to security problems. In the end, the delegation never went to the East of Sri Lanka at all.

He also said how he found the LTTE running a very efficient general administration and hospitals within the Vanni area soon after Tsunami struck Sri Lanka.